Bryan Hansen has one last shot at a National Club Baseball Association World Series title. As one of only two seniors on the University’s club team, he has experienced the heartbreak of coming agonizingly close to winning a national championship.
However, as the team prepares for the World Series in Fort Myers, Fla., Hansen says he isn’t feeling the heat.
“There isn’t a lot of pressure,” said Hansen, who finished the season 6-1 with a 3.33 ERA as a pitcher and a .337 batting average with four home runs as a hitter. “We’ve been there before and we know what to expect.”
Hansen’s sense of calm despite the daunting task ahead has been beneficial for the team all season. Along with fellow senior Andrew Murphy, he has been a vocal leader for the second-seeded team in Fort Myers.
“We definitely think of ourselves as leaders,” said Hansen, who was named Northern Pacific Conference pitcher of the week for the first week of April. “We haven’t done what seniors should do in terms of stats, but we’ve gotten the team together after losses and calmed everybody down.”
“Hansen is easy to get along with and definitely helps keep our team focused on our goal of a national championship,” sophomore outfielder Cam Gaulke said. “Every team needs a strong veteran presence to be successful and he and Andrew Murphy provide our squad with just that.”
Jeff Rogers, the coordinator of the University’s club program, praised Hansen for his leadership skills.
“He’s by far our biggest leader on and off the field,” Rogers said. “He’s always the first one to speak up and everyone listens to him. He has had a huge impact on our team.”
Oregon coach Kenny Swartwout echoed this sentiment, saying that Hansen is “a real leader on game days.”
Hansen’s path to the Oregon club baseball program is similar to that of many players on the team. He was second team all-state as a pitcher at Sheldon High School in 2004 and received walk-on offers from Purdue, Kansas, Willamette, Illinois-Chicago, and a number of community colleges. However, he was unsure about his future in baseball.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Hansen said. “I was kind of burnt out on baseball. Oregon seemed like a really good fit for me.”
Hansen said that his career as a Duck has been extremely enjoyable, and that the club team has come a long way since he joined the squad.
“We have a new generation of players here,” said Hansen, who began playing during his sophomore year. “A few years ago, we were really grab-ass. We didn’t practice a whole lot. Now it’s completely different. We have a regular practice schedule and half of our team does strength and conditioning workouts at the Moshofsky Center.”
Hansen emphasized the difficulty of being a club sport athlete as opposed to an NCAA athlete because club athletes aren’t offered the same advantages – especially in regards to funding.
“Club sports teams don’t get the same luxuries as NCAA teams,” said Hansen. “We don’t get tutor services and we also have to generate half of our funds.”
Hansen praised all of Oregon’s club sport athletes, pointing out that many have to balance academics, sports and jobs.
With the University adopting an NCAA Division I baseball program beginning in 2009, Hansen believes that it will be extremely beneficial for baseball in the state of Oregon.
“(The varsity program) is going to be great for the U of O. It puts Oregon back on a high level and it’s great for athletes in Oregon because players are going to be working that much harder knowing they could have an opportunity to play here.”
Now that his baseball career in Eugene is nearing an end, Hansen is examining what the future may hold. He has been helping out with the baseball program at Sheldon and said he has received coaching offers for the JV programs at Sheldon and Springfield.
Rogers believes that Hansen would make an outstanding coach at any level.
“I can definitely envision him being a coach in the future,” said Rogers. “He’ll have a huge impact on somebody’s program.”
But before Hansen looks too far ahead, he wants to focus on getting his accounting degree and possibly pursuing an MBA back in Chicago.
However, he didn’t rule out baseball as a future endeavor.
“I want to play for as long as I can, although everybody has to end it at some point.”