10 Questions with Baseball Senior Eric Guillen
5/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 4, 2009
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - There's no question that senior Eric Guillen has been a threat to opponents and one of Upstate's leading performers in many categories throughout his four-year career as a Spartan. As a senior with ten games left, he ranks in the top-five in numerous offensive categories for the Spartans including: batting average (.267, 4th), slugging percentage (.352, 3rd), on-base percentage (.350, 4th), runs scored (25, T-3rd), hits (47, 3rd), runs batted in (27, 3rd), doubles (9, 3rd), homeruns (2, T-2nd), total bases (62, 3rd) and walks (21, T-2nd).
Guillen is also a defensive star for the Spartans, boasting a .928 fielding percentage, leading the team with 115 assists and ranked third with 92 putouts. He has also helped to turn 28 double plays on the season.
As a junior, the Information Systems major led the team with 218 at-bats and finished third with 57 hits. Some of his many highlights included going 3-for-4 with a run in the first game of a doubleheader sweep at ETSU and going 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI at Georgia Southern, sparking a nine-game stretch in which he went 17-for-39 with seven runs and seven RBIs. He posted seven straight games without an error and posted a 3-for-5 day with a run and two RBIs against the Charlotte 49ers, who would go on to win the Atlantic-10 Championship. More impressively, he went 2-for-4 and scored the game-winning run in a 2-1 win over Florida Gulf Coast and the sixth-round draft pick, Richard Bleier.
Guillen led the Spartans with 18 multiple-hit games in his sophomore campaign, playing in 52 games and starting in 48. He finished third on the team with a .326 average and 60 hits, and was also in the top-five in runs scored, RBIs, doubles and sacrifice bunts. He also notched two six-assist games and helped turn 30 double plays throughout the season. As a freshman, Guillen really showed off his versatility seeing action at second base, shortstop and third base during the season.
Before being recruited to play at Upstate, Guillen was a member of the 2005 Big League World Series Thousand Oaks team, which lost in the finals to Easley (S.C). Guillen recently spoke with Sarah Hurd of upstatespartans.com about his baseball career at Upstate.
Did you always play shortstop or did you ever play any other positions growing up?
I played shortstop a lot when I was younger and then moved to the outfield a little during high school. I was recruited as a middle infielder and I've played shortstop, third and second base here at Upstate.
As a senior with the season ending soon, how do you look back and reflect on your four years on the baseball team here at Upstate?
I've seen this program grow so much since I've been here, playing two seasons in Division II and the most recent two seasons in Division I. It's been a great experience for myself, the team and also the coaches.
You rank in the top-three for the team in many different offensive categories including slugging percentage, hits, runs scored, runs batted in, doubles, homeruns and the top-five in batting average and on-base percentage. What's your mentality when you step up to the plate?
Coach Fincher preaches to us that every time we step in the batter's box there is always a job for us to do, whether it be getting on base as the leadoff hitter of the inning, moving a runner over on a sac bunt or grounding out to second base for the RBI. I step in the box trying to do some sort of job for the team.
Was moving from California and coming to play baseball in South Carolina a big adjustment for you? How would you describe any similarities and differences between the west and east coast?
Yes, definitely. Leaving back home in California, I was surprised at how much slower the pace of everything was here. Also, the weather is more varied here. It rains much more, can be humid, hot or you can even see snow. As far as baseball, in my opinion, the hitters are very good here on the east coast. Back on the west coast, there was more of an emphasis on "small-ball," defense and pitching for teams to eventually score runs.
How did you get the opportunity play with the Brockport Riverbats of the New York Collegiate Baseball League last summer? Was New York a big change for you?
I was looking for a summer-ball team to play on and Coach Fincher approached Matt Branham and me about playing with the Brockport Riverbats and we both took the opportunity. That was the first time I had ever been to New York, and I got the chance to see Niagra Falls and also the city of Boston while living up there, which was really neat.
Who's your favorite major league baseball team and player?
Because I grew up 45 minutes from Los Angeles, my favorite team is the L.A. Dodgers and I've always been a huge fan of them. My favorite player is Craig Biggio, who used to play second-base for the Houston Astros and is retired now. I always enjoyed watching him play because he left everything he had on the field.
What has your best memory been playing baseball at Upstate?
Well as a team, we've had opportunities to play some of the bigger, local schools around here this year. With that being said, getting a win over Tennessee was a very memorable experience for me and was awesome for our program. On a personal level, my sophomore year I ended up batting fourth in the line-up about midway through the season, which was something I had never done. I had always batted lead-off, second or ninth throughout my career, so batting clean-up was a nice booster for me and I especially enjoyed being able to say I played second base and batted clean-up.
This is your fourth season playing under head coach, Matt Fincher, who is in his 12th year at Upstate. How would you describe his personality and coaching style?
His personality is very interesting. Initially, it was a little difficult to understand how he is as a person, but now that I've known him and played for him for four years, I know just how funny of a person he is. He is very knowledgeable with all aspects of coaching and knows pretty much everything about the game. If I ever have a question, I just go into his office with it and he'll give me a whole list of things to approach the situation with. He's been a great coach and mentor to me.
If you could travel to one place in the world, where would you go?
I'd like to go to China where some of my ancestors are from. I've learned bits about the culture and language from my mom and it's definitely a place I'd like to visit at some point.
You have 10 games left in your college baseball career. Any thoughts on that?
It's a sad thought for me. I don't know what I'm going to do after college, but I've played baseball for 15-16 years almost daily up until this point. If this is my last stop, it's sad to think I've done this for so long and time to start thinking about what's next.
