For some people, baseball is just another sport. But for a guy like Nate Schweers, it’s been his whole life for as long as he can remember. Schweers is a senior relief pitcher at Oakland University and just started his final season as a Golden Grizzly.

“I started playing competitively, like travel ball when I was six,” Schweers said. “Right around 13 I started pitching and coming into high school I realized wow this is something I could do for awhile.”

Schweers is a native of Ankeny, Iowa and graduated from Ankeny High School in 2014. He was named first team all-division, district and conference in his senior season. His biggest high school accomplishment was striking out 17 batters in his final high school game. After high school, Schweers decided Oakland would be a great fit for him and listed the baseball program and academics as his top two reasons for coming.

During his freshman campaign, he made 19 appearances for a 1-2 record and a 5.74 ERA in 26.2 innings. Throughout his sophomore and junior seasons, his numbers continued to improve. Now in his senior season, he is one of the first guys out of the bullpen.

“My arm feels pretty solid, I’ve gotten in a lot of work early this season but I’m feeling good,” Schweers said.

Oakland has started out the season playing some fierce competition and have struggled out of the gate record wise but have high ambitions for league play.

“The ultimate goal is a Horizon League Championship,” Schweers said. “It’s something that has never been done here at Oakland but we feel that we have the pieces and if we execute well and put in the work every day, a Horizon League Championship is something very attainable for this team.”

Beside baseball, Schweers has a strong love for minor league sports back in his home state of Iowa. Without many major sports teams residing in Iowa, minor league teams are all the talk near Des Moines.

“Let me tell you something, people in Des Moines live for minor league sports,” Schweers said. “That’s just how it is.”

His favorite things to do in his free time are play the brand new edition of MLB The Show on PlayStation or watch his favorite movie, “Bull Durham.” Whatever Schweers does, baseball never leaves him, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

With the majority of his senior season still in front of him, Schweers doesn’t want to look too far ahead into the future, but he knows that at some point his playing days will be over.

“Obviously I want to keep playing for as long as I can, I’m not ready to hang the cleats up just yet,” Schweers said. “If a team gives me a call I would definitely jump all over it, but I feel that with the fantastic education I’ve received here that I will be successful in whatever I do after college.”