Getting To Know Nyles Nygaard

The Huskies have 13 new faces on the roster this season. GoHuskies.com will present "Getting to know" segments on the newcomers leading up to the season. Up today, infielder Nyles Nygaard.

How has the transition from high school to college went for you so far?

Academically, classes are more spread out. In high school you have classes from 8 a.m. to 2:30; now you have a class at 9:30 and an hour break maybe. As for baseball, practices are way more organized than in high school. The tempo is faster, which I like. My high school practices weren’t really structured—we’d do drills just to do them. But every drill we do here is for a purpose and I love it.

What is your favorite thing about Washington?

Probably all the help that student athletes get. We get tutors and advisors, and if we need help with school or just someone to talk to we can go to them. That’s one of the biggest things.

What is your intended major?

Right now I’m looking at communications or sports broadcasting, but I’m still undecided. I love sports and I feel like when I get older I still want to be involved in sports. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of.

Tell Dawg fans about your water polo career?

I started water polo my sophomore year. I wanted to play because it was something my dad did and I wanted to try it out. First day of practice I was dying. Practices were tough. I didn’t know if I wanted to continue with it, but I kept with it and I figured out I loved it. The teamwork you have to have with water polo is something that transitions to baseball. You need to be a team, to be one and together. In water polo you can’t have an ‘I guy’ on the team who shoots all the time. Our team was actually one of the worst teams in the league. My sophomore year we won two games, junior year we won three, and senior year we won four. I think that was an accomplishment for our team because some of the guys on our team didn’t even know how to swim before playing. Winning one more game each year was big for us. I was all-league second team and I never played until sophomore year… I love swimming. We had a pool in our backyard, and I’d always swim… The refs can’t really see what’s going on under the water, so if you get kicked in the leg, kicked where you don’t want to get kicked, you can’t just stop, stay in the pool and cry from help.

Describe your style of play on the baseball field?

I’m very relaxed. I try not to do too much, try to put myself in the situation I need to be in. If there’s a runner on second base, I’m not trying to hit a double, I’m trying to get the run in.

What role do you expect to have this season?

Whatever role I need to be in. If coach needs me to come in late in the game at second, I’ll do that. If he needs me at short, he even talked to me about first. Wherever coach needs me is where I’ll be and hopefully I’ll find a spot.

What are your goals for this season?

I want to be the best teammate I can be, rooting on every guy.

What do you like to do away from the ballpark?

I like surfing, I surf a lot in my free time back home. I also like hanging out with friends, watching movies, stuff like that.

What do you think of Seattle so far?

It’s great. I thought it was going to rain a lot more, actually. It’s really not that bad.