Paul Chovanec was the stopper out of the Saints' bullpen as a sophomore in 1991 and 1992.
"I always thought that was his role," said longtime USF baseball coach Gordie Gillespie. "He had the mean look, the speed and the size to be an intimidating reliever."
And Chovanec had success out of the pen, with 11 career saves and 42 strikeouts in 52 career innings prior to his senior year. But Gillespie and his staff decided in the fall of '92 that if the situation called for it, they would try Chovanec as a starter.
All the righthander from Hoffman Estates High School did was to go 14-0 with a 1.81 earned run average. He won two games at the NAIA World Series, including the championship game as the Saints won USF's first and still only team national championship in school history.
A week following the national tournament, Chovanec was named the NAIA Player of the Year. That capped off a season in which he led the team in pitching wins (14), appearances (20), saves (3), strikeouts (99) and opponents' batting average (.179). He also threw his first career no-hitter in the first half of a doubleheader against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and picked up the save in the nightcap.
"The award is nice," said Chovanec after receiving it some 17 years ago, "but winning a national championship and playing for the best coach there ever was is more important. Those are the two biggest thrills of my career. Those are the two things that I will treasure the most."
