Columbus North graduate and Southeastern Louisiana senior Tyler Finke dives head first into third base.
Submitted photo
A couple of painful injuries led to a slow start to Tyler Finke’s senior baseball season at Southeastern Louisiana, but now, the Columbus North graduate is starting to heat up.
Finke is batting .315 in the month April, highlighted by a 5-for-5, two-home run, four-RBI day in a win against South Alabama last week. He added another home run in Sunday’s loss at McNeese State.
“I kind of got off to a slow start this season,” Finke said. “I kind of battled some injuries that kind of hindered me in the beginning. But I’m starting to come into it later in the season, and we’re starting to get rolling as a team, which is good. I think everything is starting to come together at the right moment around tourney time.”
The 5-foot-11, 165-pound center fielder popped some cartilage in his ribs and had a bilateral shin injury for the first three or four weeks of the season. Finke has learned how lessen the chance of getting hurt through his one year at Snead State and three years at Southeastern Louisiana.
“Being one year older and kind of knowing the game a little bit better, knowing how to keep my body ready throughout the season and what I needed to do before games to get ready has definitely helped me as I’ve progressed throughout my college career,” Finke said. “Learning from people on the team last year, what it takes to win, what it takes to be good, is definitely something that’s helped me this year, as well.”
Some experts had Finke pegged as a potential draft pick in last year’s Major League Baseball Draft. But after he didn’t hear his name called, he came back to Southeastern Louisiana for another season.
“Southeastern made it clear that if it didn’t happen, then I would always have a spot back,” Finke said. “Getting my body a little bit more time to mature and building up some extra strength because baseball season is a long season, you have to have your body ready for those long road trips and long weekends. I think it’s definitely given me a chance to better prepare myself for what a long season would entail.”
Finke said he has heard a little about his draft prospects for this June, but hasn’t gotten too caught up in it.
“I’ve heard some stuff here and there,” Finke said. “I kind of just let my advisor and parents worry about that stuff while I’m in season just to kind of keep my focus on games and stuff.”
Although he hopes to get drafted, Finke could return to Southeastern Louisiana again next year, thanks to the extra year the NCAA granted athletes because of the COVID pandemic. He is on track to graduate in December with a degree in sports management.
“I could (come back), which is definitely something I would do if the draft doesn’t work out again, because I love it,” Finke said.
The Lions (17-13) are entering the stretch run of their season. They were scheduled to host third-ranked Southern Mississippi on Tuesday night.
Southeastern Louisiana has three more Southland Conference series, along with a game at No. 22 LSU before opening Southland Conference Tournament play on May 19.
“We still have our eyes on regular-season conference title, and then we have our eyes on going on to win the tournament and going to a (NCAA) regional,” Finke said. “That’s pretty much all we’re focused on right now.”
