« Baseball 2013

Alex Mendez

School
South Florida
Position
Outfield
Major
Biomedical Sciences and Business Management
AVG
.309
R
39
H
71
FLD%
.987
ERA
1.80
W-L
1-0
RBI
34
Alex Mendez

Classroom

Alex is currently on pace to graduate with a double major in Biomedical Sciences and Business Management with a 3.82 GPA. His work in the classroom has placed him on the Big East All-Academic Team for the past four years. After graduation this spring, Mendez hopes to attend medical school with a goal of becoming a Neonatologist or Orthopedic Surgeon. As of January, he has received secondary applications from seven institutions including: University of Miami, University of Michigan, FSU, UF, University of Alabama, University of Georgia, and USF.In addition to his hard work in the classroom, Mendez worked with the Medicine for Malaria Venture (MMV) research project for a year and a half.  During his time with MMV, Mendez helped test an array of different fungi to try and create a low-cost drug that could be mass produced to help combat the disease in regions currently dealing with large Malaria outbreaks, many of which do not have adequate resources to pay for the medicine that is currently available. Creating a new, cost-effective vaccine would help serve many more people across the globe.

Character

Alex has been the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) President at USF for four years. Due to his position within USF’s SAAC, Mendez was elected to serve as the Big East Conference SAAC Representative.  This spot provided him with a seat on the Division I National SAAC Committee.  He is currently one of 31 student-athlete representatives that are the voice for more than 400,000 student-athletes.  The committee has a representative on every committee and cabinet within the NCAA.  Also, they have a vote with legislation.  Within National SAAC, Mendez was appointed to serve on the Minority Opportunities and Interest Committee (MOIC) as well as the Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspect of Sports Committee (CSMAS). He is currently the sole Division I student-athlete representative on each of those committees.  As a committee, the MOIC has worked to create awareness for minorities throughout the NCAA as well as promoting minorities within the NCAA. As a member of the CSMAS Committee, he is working with the NCAA to create health awareness.  The committee has worked with multiple entities to improve concussion awareness and help those that have been affected. They are also working to improve the quality of health of student-athletes during and after their career as a collegiate student-athlete.

Community

Alex has been heavily involved in community service throughout his four years at USF, compiling more than 800 hours of community service.  Some of the specific organizations he has worked with include: Stampede of Service every year; volunteered at the Salvation Army on Thanksgiving; took part in Temple Terrace Reads all four years; the 2009 Great American Teach In and many others.  In addition, he also started the Shriners Christmas Toy Drive with USF Athletics. On top of the community service Mendez has done with USF Athletics, he was able to bring Samaritan’s Feet to Tampa.  Mendez single-handedly raised more than $4,000 to provide more than 300 pairs of shoes to individuals of all ages. His service extends beyond the Tampa and USF community. Mendez has worked with Samaritan’s Feet throughout the country, working with the teams in Indianapolis, Ind., to put on more than five shoe distributions. In addition, Mendez is currently working on making Samaritan’s Feet an international philanthropy by creating shoe distributions in Cuba and the Caribbean.

Competition

Mendez is a redshirt senior who has played a major role during his career with the Bulls as an outfielder. Heading in to the 2013 season, Mendez is taking on more of a leadership role as a team captain.  Through his first three seasons with the Bulls, Mendez has a .281 batting average in 406 at-bats, 74 runs, 54 RBI and a .367 slugging percentage. In addition, he has 26 multi-hit games in his career. Defensively, Mendez boasts a .940 fielding-percentage, with just 10 career errors in 140 games. In 2012, Mendez was third on the team in batting average (.286), while leading the team in walks and batting average in Big East games (.327). He also was tied for the lead in RBI (32) and on-base percentage (.390).  Mendez played a key role in the Bulls’ unexpected run in the 2012 Big East tournament, hitting a three-run homer against Louisville to help USF secure the 6-2 win and stay alive on its road to the tournament finals.  Coming out of high school, Mendez was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2008 but decided to attend USF to pursue a strong foundation to prepare him for medical school.