Former Owl pitching star Ryan Berry (2007-09) has gone from student-athlete to professional player to now a student/pro athlete. The Humble, Tex., native is currently back on campus this semester working on his Rice degree, which he is now just 16 hours away. The Oriole farm-hand and former all-conference honoree recently sat down with the R-Blog to get his fans caught up on an array of topics ranging from life in the minors to a PB & J diet to his current course-load. Get you best chant ready and welcome back Ry-an, Ber-rey!

Provide a little recap of where all have you been playing so far for the Orioles organization.

When spring training disbanded I was assigned to the Class A Delmarva Shorebirds, which is located in Salisbury, Md. The Shorebirds are in the South Atlantic League which consists of teams as far north as Lakewood, NJ to as far south as Savannah, Ga. So some of the travel was BRUTAL! About eight starts into the season, I was promoted to the Class Hi-A Frederick Keys. The Keys play in the Carolina League (which only consists of eight teams). They started limiting my innings-pitched to 5 for each start and by the last few weeks of the season, I was coming out of the bullpen. This is where I finished up my first professional season.

Describe how the Orioles have you at your season pitch limit, and does that mean you are done until when?

I guess the new way to handle pitchers in professional baseball is to limit the amount of innings a young pitcher throws  to just under 20%-30% increase of what he threw the previous year. Although my increase was around 50%, most likely the result of my injury last year, this puts me in prime position to throw around 150 innings next year.

What's your assessment of the pro life so far?

Prolife is quite different than the life style I experienced at Rice. I wouldn't say the professional life is any less strenuous or stressful (because it can be way more!), it's just that there is only one obligation to fulfill in the minor leagues. Heck, Rice's academics alone, not to mention the Rice Owls Baseball team, would sometimes bludgeon you with requirements or duties so am I always on the "grind".

What if anything have you missed about Rice?

You gotta be kidding me! I missed everything about Rice. From the people, to the school organizations, to even the FOOD - I've lived off of PB & J's since Spring Training. But to get serious, I missed Hanszen College the most. It's rare to have a group of people that live and gel together with a common purpose to finish their respective degrees. To be involved with Cabinet or Powderpuff or The Hanszen Finer Things Club; Being part of the College System is one of the things that distinguishes Rice from other Universities.

Is there any chance the "Ry-an Ber-rey" chants you had at Reckling Park followed you to pro ball?

Funny that you asked. A few of my fellow Hanszenites came to a home game in the middle of the season and they were a bit bashful in initiating the chant but I did hear a bit before the first pitch. I really had to strain to hear it. To be honest, I don't think we will be hearing those chants ever again on the baseball field.

What's your advice for the Owls who will soon be pursuing the pro opportunities?

Get your education completed as quick as possible. No matter if you are a 1st round selection that signs a large signing bonus or not, finishing up your undergraduate degree should be at the top of your priorities. It's one of the few things that can not be taken away from you and after the three or four years that you spent here at Rice, it would be an utter waste not to graduate.

What courses are you taking now that you're back on campus this semester? How many more hours, or courses, do you need?

Since I'm finish with my core requirements in both my majors, I'm finishing up with some distribution classes and some for fun. My class schedule looks like this at the moment.

THEA 300 - Theatre Design

HIST 117 - America to 1848

HIST 291 - 20th Century Presidents

ECON 307 - Statistics and Probabilities

SOCI 313 - Demography

BUSI 305 - Accounting

I need 16 hrs to graduate

What have you learned from Coach Graham that has stayed with you into pro ball?

For anyone who ever played under Coach Graham and remembers the amount of repetitions the pitchers went through when performing PFP's (pitcher fielding practice) - "that we are going to stay out here until we get it right" - guess what? Coach Graham was right... of course. Practice is worthless without the necessary mindset and skillset to get better. Without a goal or an aspiration to strive for, you're wasting your time, and whoever else's time that's there to help you.

What do you call this hairdo and are your plans for it this semester?

This hairdo will be gone on Sunday. I figure I'll go out in "style" with maybe a blue mohawk, or mullet, for the Texas game. Maybe someone will take a picture!