Scott Matyas

Classroom

Matyas, who maintains a 3.21 GPA, is a three-time Big Ten all-academic honoree and four-time Minnesota Scholar-Athlete. He’s currently interning in the University Golden Gopher Fund to help raise money for a new baseball stadium on campus. It was his practicum for a sports management degree, but he saw it more as a small token to give back to coach John Anderson and the baseball program for everything that they have done for him.

Character

Matyas had Tommy-John surgery at the end of his junior in high school and wasn’t sure if he would be able to keep playing. He committed to Minnesota as a recruited walk-on and eventually worked his way back to full health and contributed out of the bullpen. Matyas sees himself as another coach on the team and cherishes the role to help and discuss the game with teammates.

Community

Matyas has volunteered many times throughout the course of his career. Whether it be for reading at local elementary schools or helping the Hope Kids Foundation, he has always found it necessary to give back to the community. Along with a few other teammates, Matyas will be visiting the campus hospital cancer center to visit with kids once a week to help them take their mind off a challenging time.

Competition

Matyas enters his senior season with a school-record 25 saves, a 2.67 ERA and a career strikeout-per-nine innings rate of 11.54. He was named third-team All-Big Ten in 2010, second-team all-conference in 2009 and starts this year as a third-team preseason All-Big Ten pick. As a junior, he was 5-1 with a 2.19 ERA, eight saves and 60 strikeouts in 37 innings pitched. He gave up just one run in his last 10 appearances that spanned 13.2 IP (23 SO).