Florida Tech Scholar-Athlete Spotlight Recognizes Baseball Player Austin Sewell

By  //  April 16, 2023

Liberatore is majoring in Entrepreneurship

Being a scholar-athlete at Florida Tech takes an incredible amount of hard work and dedication to excel both in the classroom and on the field. In this Scholar-Athlete Spotlight, we are featuring Panther baseball player Austin Sewell, a sophomore who is majoring in Applied Mathematics. (Florida Tech image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Being a scholar-athlete at Florida Tech takes an incredible amount of hard work and dedication to excel both in the classroom and on the field.

Being a scholar-athlete at Florida Tech takes an incredible amount of hard work and dedication to excel both in the classroom and on the field.

In this Scholar-Athlete Spotlight, we are featuring Panther baseball player Austin Sewell, a sophomore who is majoring in Applied Mathematics.

Making the trip across the state to Melbourne from Plant City, Florida, Austin has become a regular in the Panther lineup this season, hitting .283 with a .374 on-base percentage while driving in 15 runs across 30 games.

He hit the first home run of his Crimson and Gray career last Saturday against #3 ranked Tampa.

Sewell was named to the SSC Commissioner’s and Florida Tech Athletic Director’s Honor Roll following his freshman season.

With Panther baseball heading into the closing stretch of the regular season, we caught up with Austin to ask him how he balances it all and how his major ties in with his sport.

■ What’s your major at Florida Tech and why did you choose this? Is it something that you’ve always wanted to do?

So, I chose Applied Mathematics as my major. I’ve always been a big numbers and data guy, so it kind of just fits my track and I’ve really enjoyed it so far. It’s been a great major for me.

■ What was it about Florida Tech that made you want to be here?

It just felt like home from the minute I stepped on campus. The people here were great, and the environment was great.

I just felt like I belonged here, and it’s been great ever since I’ve been here. I’ve been able to play in the premier conference for baseball and obviously, the major choice has been great.

■ How do you plan to use your degree after graduation?

I plan on going into something along the lines of data analytics or something in the front office, maybe it’s sports, I really want to stay involved with the game and anything along those lines is something that would fit me really well and what my brain has to offer.

■ What are some of the exciting projects that you’ve been able to work on in classes here?

So, a few things we’ve done so far, we really just solve complex problems. It’s really interesting to see how I work with my classmates and my professors, and you get to know them on a personal level and it’s really easy to just use what your brain has to offer, combine it with somebody else’s and just come up with the solutions.

■ Baseball season usually spans three months with plenty of road trips and practices in between, how do you keep everything balanced once the season starts?

It’s just all about sticking to a plan for me. I’m very much an organizational kind of guy.

So, I tend to follow along with the schedule, any free time I have, I’m studying for a test I may have in a couple of weeks or I’m getting to the [batting] cage to get more work in. It’s about maximizing the time that I have in a day while also prioritizing sleep and nutrition and those things.

■ How has being a collegiate athlete prepared you for what you’re doing now and what do you take from the field that you apply to your studies?

Yes, I think from what I’ve learned throughout baseball is that you have to be able to work hard to get what you want, and you have to overcome failure. So, whether it’s on the diamond or in the classroom, you’re gonna face tough times and challenges, and I’m able to use those to better understand the rewards I’m gonna get in the future.

They’re gonna benefit me and I know that ultimately, I’m that kind of guy that can succeed whenever something like that comes. It’s hard and you may not feel like doing it, but I’m always there to put in that extra work.

■ What advice would you give to an athlete coming to Florida Tech that has an interest in Mathematical Sciences?

What I would say is embrace the grind. There’s gonna be hard days and they’ll probably be some days that are harder than that but honestly, it’s a lot of fun and it’s really not too bad once you understand it’s not impossible and just reach out to those that are around you to help and you’re never alone.

■ What have you enjoyed the most this season?

I love the group of guys we’re with, I love the environment that the coaching staff has enabled us with and I just feel like we’re a really special group of guys.

We kind of control our own destiny from here on out, so I just hope that we take advantage of that and understand that if we do our jobs, we’re going to be the playoffs and that’s ultimately our goal here.

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