Filling out a lineup card is a common practice for baseball managers. Deciding whether to put your name on it is not so common.

Ethan Schroeder is a fifth-year senior, and finishing his second year as the ISU club baseball president. In addition to club president, Schroeder has taken on the role of a coach as well.

Schroeder became the vice president of the club during his third year and wanted to change the direction of the club.

“I wanted to work my way up,” Schroeder said. “I saw some things in the club that I wanted to change personally, and I knew I had to be [the club president] in order to get things where I wanted them to be.”

Since becoming president of the club, Schroeder has taken over the role as manager of the team. During his two years as president, Schroeder has turned the team from fun and laidback to more serious and competitive.

“I just wanted to see the club excel,” Schroeder said. “I wanted us to be more competitive, more of a threat. We were always good, but we were more in it for the fun rather than winning baseball games. I wanted to change the program for the other way to be competitive, to be at the top of the conference every year.”

This new style of coaching and running of the team has connected with the other players.

“During my first year, there was no confidence and a little less talent on the field, and so we weren’t sure about the outcomes,” said senior Kyle Martin. “If we ever won a game, it was kind of more of a surprise than feeling good. We were surprised we won.”

As president of the club, Schroeder is in charge of setting lineups for every game, planning all club meetings and disciplining players when necessary.

Schroeder also pitches in one game during each weekend series. Players on the team said Schroeder does a great job balancing his two roles as coach and pitcher.

“He takes his role that depends on the situation. When he needs to act like a coach, he’ll act like a coach,” Martin said. “When he’s pitching, he’ll act more like a player. He does a good job of balancing both roles.”

Schroeder said he tries to balance the two roles, but views himself more as a coach on the team.

“Before I took over as president, I was always a player,” Schroeder said. “I played the field every game. But when I became president I stepped down. I’ll pitch one game out of the weekend rather than play in the other games, that way I can focus on coaching and making sure everybody’s doing their part.”

Players said this year’s team is more talented and more competitive than previous years.

“We think we should win every single game that we’re out here, and we know we can win every single game,” said senior and third baseman Cody Rickard. “We’re a little more serious in the fact that we want to go into the playoffs this year and make a run.”

The team will compete in its final series of the season next weekend when they travel north to face Northern Iowa.

“When the team wins, I win,” Schroeder said. “It feels good when you put out a lineup, put out a team that’s excelling and doing well.”