TAMPA, Fla. – University of Tampa veteran infielder Drew Ehrhard recognizes the importance of the little things in life through his sixth year with the Spartans.
As an established leader and a four-time SSC Commissioners Honor Roll recipient, Ehrhard expressed how gratitude has positively influenced both his academic and athletic career.
Head Coach Joe Urso spoke highly of Ehrhard’s ability to produce on and off the field.
“He’s dreamt of playing for the Spartans all his life and, uh, to get two years back because of COVID – he’s on his sixth year. He’ll have two master’s degrees when he leaves here. He’s our best student,” Urso said. “He’s been one of our best Spartans as well.
“You know, one of our best hitters – hits second on the team – selfless at bats where he has to take pitches and hit behind runners and do a lot of the little things that aren’t recognized. But just a great leader for us.”
The Tampa native’s passion for the sport emerged through the frequent attendance of his father’s baseball games. Rodney Ehrhard, a minor-league catcher and outfielder inducted in the University of Tampa Hall of Fame, inspired Drew to extend his generational commitment to the school.
Drew Ehrhard acknowledged the influence his father had over him both in baseball and beyond.
“I mean, he’s taught me everything from the fundamentals to the mental side of the game and then obviously just how to be a man in general and how to take every day, kind of – never take a day for granted and make every day count and then just try and forget the bad days and make sure we take a lot from the good days.”
On the field, Ehrhard understands the importance of small contributions with large implications. Despite his perfectionistic tendencies, he has learned to focus on the positive moments in each game.
“I like to play it with just a lot of hustle, try and make the little things happen – really just try and play the game as hard as I can,” Ehrhard said. “Not every at-bat is gonna be perfect, not every play is gonna be perfect. But as long as we can continue to do the good things and do a lot of the things right, good things are gonna happen.”
Outside of baseball, Ehrhard is bringing forward the same mentality to his academics. Over his six years with the Spartans, he has gained perspective on the importance of the work-hard, play-hard mentality.
“I know when I’m out here this is my focus and then when I leave the field it’s like, ‘Okay, what other responsibilities do I have? I have my family; I have my academics’ and just really trying to be organized and trying to manage out my days in a good way,” Ehrhard said.
“I know when I’m supposed to do my academic stuff, I know when I’m supposed to be doing other things, so, that’s helped me a lot and just doing – kind of just like baseball – doing the little things.”
Ehrhard is hopeful the sport will remain part of his life. In his ultimate demonstration of gratitude, he discussed his aspiration to pass on the lessons he has been taught to the next generation of baseball players.
“Coaching is definitely what I would really enjoy doing after my baseball career comes to an end. I’ve started to dabble with it a little bit,” he said. “I’ve had so many unbelievable coaches from Little League to high school to college, to my dad obviously being such a great coach.
“Like, all the influence they had on me, it would mean so much to me to be that kind of influence on someone else’s life.”