Friday Features: UAH engineer Luke Mould earns top honors on, off the field
By Mike Perrin
Remember that public service announcement from the NCAA that said, “There are over 380,000 student-athletes and most of us go pro in something other than sports”?
University of
Alabama Huntsville pitcher
Luke Mould is the perfect example. Mould spent four years at UAH, twice earning All-Gulf South Conference honors on his way to setting a Chargers record for most career saves.
Now that his career is over, the Athens, Ala., native is turning pro as a chemical engineer for the Hexcel Corporation in Salt Lake City. Hexcel is a leader in the aerospace and wind energy industries. Mould was a leader on the mound and in the classroom.
As a senior, he finished as UAH’s Chemical Engineering Student of the Year, completing his academic career with a 3.93 grade point average. He was voted first-team CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District, which makes him eligible for All-America honors to be announced next week.
His nine saves for coach Hunter Royer’s squad gave him 17 for his career – and he was the closer only as a junior and senior. Mould leaves UAH with a 3.20 earned run average and a 15-4 record. In 135 innings pitched, he struck out 109 batters and walked just 31. As a junior, the 5-foot-7, 150-pounder allowed zero or one earned run in 16 straight appearances. This season’s 5-2 record, 3.32 ERA, 38 strikeouts and seven walks earned him second-team American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Division II All-South Region honors.
“I was honored to be selected for both teams,” Mould said, “considering the incredible talent in the GSC and region. However, the All-Academic teams mean a little more to me. It reminds me that I am a student-athlete and you can balance both athletics and academics. I enjoyed the rigor of my academic program, but also learned through athletics much about perseverance and working with a team.
“I experienced not only how to handle winning, but how to respond to adversity and defeat. Athletics is a great teacher. Those will be skills that will help carry me through my career and life.”
Mould said he was honored to win the school’s chemical engineering award. “I did not know about it until a couple of weeks before Honors Day,” he said. “They sent me an email letting me know that I had won the award. There are so many outstanding students in the College of Engineering at UAH. I’ve been fortunate to have several professors who have been great mentors.”
Mould comes by his academic and athletic prowess honestly. His father, Rick Mould, was a first baseman at Montgomery’s Huntingdon College, and is now Vice President for University Advancement at Athens State University. His mother, Mary, was a kindergarten teacher for 25 years.
“My sister [Laura] is four years older than me and she majored in chemical engineering,” Mould said. “I got to see some of the stuff she was doing while I was in high school. That is the biggest reason I started chemical engineering and after a few classes I knew I liked it and it was right for me.
“Our family joke is that neither of our parents could help us with our math homework after about fifth grade,” he said. “My parents believed that a college education was never an option, but a path to success. I believe we were both attracted to engineering as a career because of its challenges and impact on our everyday lives.”
Keeping his academics in order was a tough job, he said. “Practice was normally during the afternoon or at night for us and our mid-week games were on Wednesdays,” Mould said. “I had several group projects in my classes, so making time to meet with my classmates on their schedules was one of the toughest things. I would oftentimes do homework and study for classes individually in the mornings, go to class, go to practice, then go to the computer lab to meet with my group to finish out the night.
“Time management is priceless when you’re a student-athlete,” he said. “Always look for that little bit of extra time that you can use to study. Often I would look over notes and work problems while I ate lunch or while I was on the bus to an away game.”
The Chargers completed the season ranked 20th in the nation with a 36-11-1 overall record, 21-9-1 in the GSC – good for second in the league. Mould said he enjoyed his role as closer, despite beginning his career – and earning first-team All-GSC as a sophomore – as a starter. “I enjoyed having the closer role at UAH and thank Coach Royer and Coach [Evan] Bush for having that confidence in me. For some reason, I liked the unpredictability that came with the role.
“Each game when I showed up to the ballpark I tried to prepare myself so that I was mentally ready whether I entered a one-run game with a runner on third or was pitching with a three-run lead. As far as my approach, I would try to repeat pitches and situations over and over again in practice so when I was in a high-pressure setting, decisions would be almost second nature to me out on the mound.”
Closing an interview, the all-time leader had this to say: “Keeping God first and seeking His will was the most important aspect of my college career. I want to thank God for every single opportunity He has given me and allowing me to live the dream of getting a great college education, playing baseball and making lifelong friendships.”
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11/21/2014 - VSU's Margaret Stauffer Finds Strength in Team, Family.
11/28/2014 - Union Off and Running.
12/05/2014 - UWA Coach Ray Stanfield Pushes Cross Country Teams to Top.
12/12/2014 - CBU Men's Basketball Making Noise.
12/19/2014 - Dickey Says UWG Football 'Right on Schedule'.
12/26/2014 - Youngsters Lead UWF Women.
1/02/2015 - UAH's Owens Rebounds From Car Crash With New Appreciation for Life, Basketball.
1/09/2015 - Freshmen Building Base for Lee Women's Success.
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5/15/2015 - CBU AD Looks to Build on First Year From the Ground Up.