Lowenstein gives UCI dose of toughness

UC Irvine junior catcher Aaron Lowenstein, like any smart athlete, said he listens to his body. He just doesn't see its point.

So when the pain, however dull or sharp, prompts daily reports to his brain of further damage incurred by blocking pitches, being hit by pitches, or merely squatting for the better part of four hours, Lowenstein politely takes a message, then mentally files it under receipts for the price of winning baseball games.

"I want to win at all costs," said the two-year starter, whom Coach Dave Serrano calls the unsung hero of a 43-15-1 squad that meets host Wichita State (53-20) today at 9 a.m. in the first of a three-game Super Regional series, from which the winner will advance to the College World Series. "I'll do anything I have to. I'll run into a brick wall if I have to."

Some would and have argued that no player has to run into a brick wall. Lowenstein, who first donned catcher's gear as a 9-year-old little leaguer, and has been caking dirt on his uniform ever since, said coaches throughout his career have tried to explain "the fine line between being aggressive and crazy."

Lowie, as he is know by his teammates, nods politely at such advice, then goes out and hurtles himself horizontally at any foul popup that doesn't clear the backstop screen.

So thorough is his lack of regard for his own bodily welfare, he began a pregame team ritual of taking what have come to be known as 'chest doses."

"I take pride in taking doses [getting hit by balls pitched from teammates and adversaries alike] and not moving out of the way," Lowenstein said. "I feel like my teammates feed off that and I take pride in being a scrapper-type guy, who will do anything to help the team."

So what of these chest doses?

"It's kind of a thing I always did in high school," said Lowenstein, a four-year varsity performer and three-year team captain at Calabasas High. "A lot of times when [the Anteaters] are stretching before away games, the other team is taking batting practice. My freshman year, I think we were at [Cal State] Northridge and a fly ball came heading toward our team stretching in the outfield. People were yelling 'Heads up,' and I stood up and took it off the chest. Everybody was like 'What are you doing?' But from there on out, we've called those chest doses and everyone tries to take one whenever they can.