SLU | www.IndianaRBI.com

Speed is Tyler Finke’s calling card on the baseball field.
He shows it while roaming center field and swiping bases at a record pace for Southeastern Louisiana University and he did it while growing up in Columbus, Ind., and shining for the Columbus North High School Bull Dogs.
A fifth-year SLU senior, Finke has 41 putouts in as many chances. The righty swinger is hitting a team-leading .364 with one home runs, four doubles, 14 runs batted in and 23 runs scored — mostly from the 2-hole — through 14 games.
“I’m able to track down balls and impact the game on the defensive side and limiting balls that drop out there,” says Finke. “I’ve got (lead-off man Rhett Rosevear) in front of me and we can get guys on base and score some runs.”
At 15-of-16 in stolen bases for 2023, Finke is 71-of-80 for his career and had tied the school record.
The 5-foot-11, 165-pounder pilfered nine bases in 16 games in 2020 (a season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic), 19 in 46 games in 2021 and 28 in 58 games in 2022. He hit .396 and amassed 38 stolen bases in 41 attempts for Snead State Community College in Boaz, Ala., in 2019 after hitting .415 and setting career and single-season stolen base marks at Columbus North with 108 and 48.
“Speed’s been my biggest strength as an athlete,” says Finke. “I’ve developed it over the years, but I’ve always been the fastest kid on the team.”
As a youngster, Finke improved his speed through plyometrics, body awareness and proper running form.
“I always ran the right way and always had the speed to back it up,” says Finke. “We still do a little work with our strength coach (Kyle Vagher). He’s done a great job improving our speed and agility in the off-season.
“It’s been mostly about adding strength.”
Finke, who turns 24 in April, gained an extra year of eligibility because of COVID.
He completed a Sport Management degree last semester. This spring marks his fourth playing for Matt Riser at SLU in Hammond, La.
“Skip is one of the old-school, hard-nosed dudes,” says Finke. “He expects a lot from you. He expects you to play hard every single time. That’s what we love about him.
“We know he’s going to get the best out of his team every performance.”
He credits his coach for making him even more of a weapon on the bases.
“Having speed helps,” says Finke. “But Riser has given me some extra tools and tricks of the trade that help maximize my speed.”
It’s things like reading the pitcher and sinking into his legs right before the pitch to get his best jump.
“Getting that extra foot ahead of the baseball has really helped me,” says Finke. “Our whole team can run pretty much. We take pride in that. At any point we can take a base.”
Casey Underwood was Finke’s head coach at Snead State.
“His first year as coach was my year there,” says Finke. “The stuff he’s built around that program is absolutely incredible.
“I can’t say anything but nice things about what he’s done and what he means to me as a coach.”
Finke has never been a fan of the cold and saw himself playing college ball in the south.
While in high school playing travel ball for Demand Command, he got to play against junior college teams in the fall. One of those was Snead State.
Older brother Evan Finke (Columbus North Class of 2015) played for the Parsons and Tyler followed him. Evan went on to Purdue Northwest and is now an engineer in Columbus.
Little sister Carley Finke (Columbus North Class of 2020) is a former volleyball defensive specialist and current nursing student at Indiana University Purdue University-Columbus. Evan, Tyler and Carley are the offspring of Rodney and Beth Finke.
A 2018 graduate of Columbus North, Tyler Finke played for then-Bull Dogs head coach Ben McDaniel.
“He got us prepared to play the college game,” says Finke. “We were a high school program, but we had a lot of talent.”

Tyler Finke. (Southeastern Louisiana University Athletics Photo)

BY STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com

After two baseball seasons at Saint Louis University, Nolan Bowser has opted to enter the Transfer Portal with two years of college eligibility.
Is he nervous about where he’ll land?
“A little bit, but at the same time I just have to keep playing and feel like teams will come scouting me,” says Bowser. “So nervousness? Yes. But also it’s a little bit of a calling to just play the game.”
With the SLU Billikens, Bowser got into 40 games (10 as a starter) in 2021 and 2022 and hit .234 (11-of-47) with four runs batted in and 13 runs scored. His batting mark this past spring was .269 (7-of-26) and he produced a walk-off RBI single against Western Illinois on March 8.
Bowser is listed as a lefty-swinging catcher, but has the versatility to play all over the infield or outfield as well.
“I can play anywhere really,” says Bowser, a 5-foot-11, 185-pounder who played third base, shortstop and second base and a few games at catcher in high school and was a catcher and outfielder in travel ball. He was allowed to call pitches.
What does catching do for him?
“I know it may not seem like it sometimes, but I like being in-control,” says Bowser. “Keeping in-charge of the pitcher it just came easy to me.”
Bowser is in his third go-round in the College Summer League at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., about 25 miles from McCordsville. He was with the Screwballs in 2020, Tropics in 2021 and is now on the Bomb Squad in 2022.
He had just graduated when he played during the CSL’s first season (2020). That year — with limited summer wood bat opportunities — the league was chock-full of D-I talent.
“It was definitely a change going from high school to college ball,” says Bowser. “That’s for sure.”
As a Criminal Justice major, Bowser sees himself pursuing a career in law enforcement.
What made him decide on that path?
“On my mom’s side of the family, her dad, grandpa and brother were all in the Marines,” says Bowser. “I played baseball so I really didn’t want to join the Marines. But I felt like I could give back to the community and the world (as a police officer or detective). It’s kind of not in a great place right now.
“I feel like I can help change it just a little bit.”
Bowser grew up in Lawrence, Ind., and moved into the Mt. Vernon district as high school approached.
He played travel ball from 8U to 17U — first with the Oaklandon Bombers and then the Indiana Bulls. His father — Steve Bowser — was one of his Bombers coaches. With the Bulls, Nolan played for Tony Cookerly, Jeremy Honaker, Dan Held and Sean Laird.
“Sean was very intense,” says Bowser. “I loved it though.”
A 2020 graduate of Mt. Vernon High School in Fortville, Ind., Bowser played on the freshman and junior varsity teams as a ninth grader. He played varsity as a sophomore and junior. His senior season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“(Then-Marauders head coach Ryan Carr) was great to me,” says Bowser. “I gave it my all every single time.”
Bowser was selected all-Hancock County in 2018 and 2019 and all-Hoosier Heritage Conference in 2019.
Steve and Dana Bowser have two children — Nolan (20) and Delaney (18). Steve Bowser is a vice president of a construction company. Dana Bowser is a dietician. A 2022 Mt. Vernon graduate, Delaney Bowser is to play volleyball for the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

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Speedy Finke making his mark at Southeastern Louisiana

Bowser back in College Summer League prepping for next move

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