BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Today we continue a new series called Student-Athlete Spotlight, presented by Coca-Cola, that will highlight Samford's outstanding student-athletes. Today's sixth episode features baseball outfielder Max Pinto.
 
Pinto is a native of Miami, Florida, and he said he had not heard of Samford University until a recruiting trip made him aware of the school and the baseball program.
 
"During a recruiting trip we stopped at a bunch of schools and Samford was one of the schools we stopped at," Pinto said. "I loved the campus, I was fortunate enough to play in front of Coach (Casey) Dunn. I didn't really get to learn much about the school or the program, I was just able to play and then we got out of there, so he invited me a couple of weeks later to actually come and visit the school. I just loved everything about it. The campus is one of the nicest campuses in the country, and the baseball program has really been getting better every single year and it was something I could really see myself being a part of. He offered me that day and I committed that exact same day. I loved it and knew it was definitely somewhere I would fit, even though it was a long way from home, it was kind of a home away from home."


 
The baseball team is in the middle of its fall season. The Bulldogs had their spring season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so Pinto said he and his teammates have been glad to be back out on the field.
 
"We've been scrimmaging a lot," Pinto said. "We're scrimmaging about four times a week, and we're just happy to be out there. We know a lot of other teams that aren't scrimmaging at all or have been shut down."
 
Pinto said he likes the way the team has looked so far this fall.  
 
"We look good, we're deep and we have a lot of arms and a lot of hitters," Pinto said. "There is a lot of competition right now. Some of the new guys coming in, they look really good. We have a lot of leadership, a lot of old guys, so there's a lot of competition right now, but we definitely look good."
 
Pinto praised the way the university has handled bringing students back with all of the new COVID-19 protocols.
 
"I definitely have to give props to Samford, they have done an amazing job handling COVID," Pinto said. "It almost feels the same as how it was before we got locked down. They've handled it so well. And really they've done an amazing job of being able to keep students on campus and keeping us safe. I feel safe whenever I go to class and whenever I'm on campus."
 
This fall, Pinto has been serving an internship in the Samford External Relations department. He talked a little about the internship so far.
 
"Being a sports administration major, I needed to do an internship, and I wanted to do mine on campus," Pinto said. "I've always been interested in marketing, specifically sports marketing. A couple of mentors of mine recommended that I speak with Matt Jones. So, I e-mailed him over the break and he said he would love to have me as an intern, and I really didn't know what to expect coming in. I didn't know what I was going to be doing, I just knew I wanted to gain some experience and be around people that are good at their jobs."