With an athletic 6-foot-1-inch, 186-pound frame and a left-handed bat, junior infielder Mike Lowery looks the part of a college baseball player.
A glance at LSU’s statistics through 24 games shows what seems to be an accomplished hitter rolling along at a .368 clip.
But there is one fact in Lowery’s bio that stands out like an NBA player at a preschool.
The Pearland, Texas, native never played high school baseball.
During the summer, he would dabble in the summer leagues, but his focus in high school was on basketball.
“I played baseball all my life, but going into high school I was playing basketball too,” Lowery said. “The basketball and baseball seasons overlap, so I decided to stick with basketball and play summer baseball instead. I really wasn’t sure if I was going to play college baseball.”
But for some, all it takes is a chance to prove they belong, and that’s all it took for Lowery.
His ascension to starting on one of the premier programs in college baseball started by word of mouth when he was playing for Pearland’s summer baseball team.
Temple Junior College baseball coach Craig McMurtry received a call from the father of one of Lowery’s teammates insisting the coach come out and take a look at a lean shortstop.
“He said, ‘[Lowery is] a really good player, a shortstop who swings the bat from the left side,” McMurtry said. “He said, he’s a good athlete, I think you ought to look at him.'”
McMurtry’s team needed a shortstop, so he watched Lowery play when his summer team was playing a tournament near Temple.
“I thought he looked very athletic, and he swung the bat pretty well,” McMurtry said. “I talked to [Lowery] and his dad about coming to Temple. We talked off and on for several weeks, and he decided that he would come here and play.”
The decision paid off for Lowery, who batted .422 in his freshman year en route to being named the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference Region V Freshman of the Year.
But according to McMurtry, Lowery wasn’t able to coast on his athleticism alone in the college ranks — which suited Lowery fine.
“He’s a very hard worker, and he’s a very good competitor,” McMurtry said. “Any time you mix someone who’s got the talent with someone who’s very competitive, he’s going to try to get the most out of his ability.”
Lowery parlayed a sophomore season in which he batted .355 with 11 doubles and seven stolen bases into a scholarship from LSU.
But a back injury almost derailed Lowery’s career at LSU before it started.
“[Lowery’s] an interesting story,” said LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri. “He goes to junior college and plays so well that we recruit him. Then he comes to school here, and he’s got a stress fracture in his back and has major back surgery.”
Lowery redshirted after the surgery and was frustrated by his inability to play because of the injury. But the former high school basketball player has worked his way into the starting lineup this season.
“I was blessed with an opportunity to come here and play, though it was a little frustrating last year,” Lowery said. “Now I’m coming back and getting in the swing of things again, getting comfortable out there. Coach Mainieri has blessed me with some opportunities to play for this team.”
 
 
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Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]