Get to Know Your Raiders: Tyler Shover

In just two seasons so far at Shippensburg, senior Tyler Shover has solidified the backstop position for the Raider baseball team.

An All-PSAC East First Team pick at catcher last season, Shover, a Camp Hill native, has gotten off to a hot start in 2013. As the team’s three-hole hitter, he is batting .367 with 29 hits, 21 RBIs and 18 runs scored.

Perhaps most impressively, however, is that the human communication studies major has reached base in every game played this season – a streak of 24 consecutive contests.

Defensively, Shover has caught 13 base runners stealing this season, having thrown out runners at an impressive 46.4 percent clip.

Shover and his teammates will get back on the diamond tomorrow afternoon with a 3 p.m. home contest against PSAC West opponent IUP from Fairchild Field.

Get to know Tyler Shover…

What is your favorite pre-game ritual?

Visualizing the game as if it already happened and seeing myself, as well as the team, being successful and getting the win.

What part of Shippensburg, either the campus or the town, do you most enjoy?

I enjoy the athletic facilities – Heiges Field House and Fairchild Field.

What is the best class you've taken at Shippensburg?

Art appreciation was one, as well as some of my communication classes.

If you weren't majoring in human communication studies, what would your major be?

Something to do with biology and studying animals.

What is your favorite day of the week, and why?

Friday, because it’s the beginning of the weekend and that leads to conferences games, which I look forward to.

Which are your favorite PSAC schools to compete against, and why?

West Chester would be the main one because they are good competition and it allows us to play up to our high potential.

If we asked your teammates to say a few words about you, what do you think they would say?

They would say that I’m a great teammate and am fun to be around but that I also work hard at the same time.

Which individual athletic accomplishment are you most proud of?

Being named among the top 30 prospects [by the baseball scouting website Perfect Game] in my summer league, the Costal Plain League.

What's the most difficult part of being a student-athlete?

The most difficult thing about being a student-athlete is the time management.

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned being a student-athlete?

The most important thing I’ve learned being a student-athlete is how to manage time management and learning how to switch gears from athletics to education.

What piece of advice stays with you at all times?

The piece of advice that stays with me would be to go hard and give it my all no matter what I’m doing.

If you could talk to children who are just beginning to show an interest in baseball, what would you tell them they should focus on?

Focus on having good practice ethics and not taking anything – including advice – for granted. The better you practice, the better you play, along with being open-minded to new ideas.

What legacy do you hope to leave behind for future athletes at Shippensburg?

I want people to remember my name years later and recognize personal and team accomplishments I have made. Also if I get the chance to play professional baseball I want to represent the school that I came from.