Jack Janes

PEORIA, Ariz. — Kyren Paris got his second taste of Major League Baseball last season and it was another challenging stint. He hit just .118 with a .440 OPS. Something needed to change.

As Paris sat in the dugout on days when he wasn’t in the lineup, he paid close attention to the hitters in the batter's box and took notes. Out of all the players Paris watched, one of them stood out to him.

IRVINE, Calif — The Anaheim Ducks have numerous young players on the roster that give hope to what the team can be on the other side of the rebuild, but one player in that group that gets overlooked is defenseman Drew Helleson.

One reason why is because he is not a mainstay in the Ducks lineup. The 23-year-old was recalled from the American Hockey League in the middle of November and made his season debut on November 15. Since his recall, Helleson has only played in 11 of the Ducks’ 18 games, and it is not because of his play on the ice.

Waking up early in the morning, having classes from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., then heading to the weight room, then straight to practice until about 7 p.m., doing homework until the middle of the night, and repeating it all the next day. That is a typical day in the life of a student-athlete in college.

While some may see college athletes as leading charmed lives, being a college athlete comes with unique stressors and challenges, such as the pressure to perform, the risk of injuries, and the daily stress of not having enough time in the day to accomplish everything, amid the intense and demanding schedule of practice, play and school.

For years, ASU baseball's Achilles' heel has been its pitching. Just in the last three seasons, the Sun Devils have only had one season with a team-earned run average below six, and it was 5.95. But a step in the right direction was made this offseason with the addition of the Whiteman Family Performance Center Pitching Lab.

The game of baseball is in the midst of an analytical movement where Major League Baseball teams are prioritizing high-tech tracking data to tell them anything and everything about what pitch was just thrown. The trickle-down effect of this is creeping its way into college baseball, and ASU is joining the party.

Freshman Peer Wernicke is over five and a half thousand miles away from his hometown of Leverkusen, Germany, but he is settling into the newest chapter of his life as a college golfer with the help of his teammates and a clear mindset.

"We're always having fun when we play," Wernicke said. "It makes the whole process, which can be very exhausting and not easy, very fun."

Things are also pretty exciting for Wernicke because of the fall season he had on the golf course, placing just outside of the top ten in three out of four tournaments. Wernicke finished 13th in The Sahalee Players Championship, 11th in the Fighting Illini Invitational, 11th in the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational and 24th in The Williams Cup.

This impressive performance resulted in Wernicke being ranked 49th in the nation, which is also the fourth-highest ranking of any freshman.