Stepping to the rubber, Luke Trubee stares at catcher and roommate Josh Burt and waits for the senior stopper to call the pitch.

The senior's arsenal includes a four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, knuckle-curve, change-up and slider which he has used effectively this season as he leads the team in strikeouts with 36. Trubee gathered himself and delivered a blazing fastball to the plate that a St. Bonaventure batter could not keep up with.

Despite racking up eight strikeouts, Trubee and the Flyers dropped the game to the Bonnies. Trubee has not always had the best of luck this season, but the senior understands what it takes to win and knows what he has to do to pick up the w.

'Sometimes it can be tough and there's not a whole lot to say losing a game when I have my stuff going right,' Trubee said. 'But I've got to pick myself up and say that I'll go out there next week and hopefully get the support from the other guys, and just keep plugging away and doing your part.'

Trubee has posted a 2-4 record in six appearances this season with a 7.58 ERA, but numbers can certainly lie.

Nine innings pitched, three runs allowed while striking out 12. That usually is the line of a winning pitcher, for his effort he only picked up a loss.

Constant improvement has been a hallmark of Trubee, who began his freshman year working out of the bullpen but has since pitched his way into the rotation.

'As a reliever you need to have the mindset of I am going out there and I have to get outs,' Trubee said. 'It's a little different for me now, I know I have a few more pitches to work with when I am settling in but I try to be ready to go at all times.'

In his freshman campaign Trubee averaged 5.7 K/9 (strikeouts per nine innings), 4.7 K/9 IP sophomore year, 6.8 strikeouts/9 IP his junior year and is ringing up nine strikeouts per every nine innings pitched this season.

With two new catchers this season who split time, pitches are called in from the dugout but Trubee has earned the freedom to shake off pitches. Trubee cites his relationship with pitching coach Todd Linklater as a key to the development of his talents.

'He has worked with a few of my pitches since I got here,' Trubee noted. 'My change-up has really improved and my slider has become a key pitch for me when I need to pick up an out.'

Although the season is far from its conclusion as it outlasts the school year by nearly a month, Trubee has a wealth of experience playing meaningful, late-season contests. Trubee started the second game of the Atlantic-10 conference championship last season played at 5/3 Field, home of the Dayton Dragons. In high school, Trubee pitched for a Dayton-based club team which moved on to play for the national championship.

'We went down to Jupiter, Fla. and played against 40-or so teams, all 18-year-olds playing ball and we made it all the way to the final game and finished as national-runner up,' Trubee said. 'Despite the loss, it was a great experience that taught me a lot.'

For the last two seasons the Xenia native has served as team captain.

'Being named captain when there were several seniors who he could have asked to be captain, but he came to me as an underclassman and displayed a lot of trust in me and it really meant a lot to me,' Said Trubee.

While at UD, Trubee has majored in Civil Engineering and will graduate in December. However, he does have some other plans prior to graduation day.

'Hopefully, I can continue playing ball, the [Major League Baseball] draft is in June and I hope that goes well for me and I can keep playing ball,' said Trubee, a candidate for the Roger Clemens award which is presented annually to the college baseball's finest pitcher. 'I am excited for that chance to live out that dream.'