When is it a healthy choice to chug a 900-calorie protein shake just minutes before falling asleep? When is it possible to eat deep fried meats and cheeses without gaining a single pound?

The truth is, these food choices are very healthy when you exercise as intensely as Donald Bowes.

Bowes, 20, is a junior transfer student who earned his associate’s degree in liberal arts from Mercyhurst North East. He is now studying business management at the Mercyhurst main campus.

Bowes is a pitcher for the Mercyhurst University Lakers and is working to improve the speed and accuracy of his pitches every day.

He is a dedicated student athlete with ambitions of making physical strength gains as well as making any batter who steps up to the plate look stupid.

Bowes’ dedication to weight training has already allowed him to pitch a 92 mph fastball.

His passion for baseball can be traced back to Little League.

“My best memories of my baseball career are from when I played Little League in Richmond Township,” said Bowes. “My dad coached me, and we were undefeated every season.”

The junior pitcher’s workout regimen is unlike any average Joe’s. He lifts weights three days a week and has baseball practice six days a week.

The rest of Bowes’ teammates are required to lift weights only one day per week, but Bowes puts in extra time for one reason. At only 5 feet 9 inches and 170 pounds, Bowes is the shortest pitcher on the team. But he certainly makes up for it in muscle.

“I want to get big,” said Bowes. “It helps the tendonitis in my elbow feel a little better but mostly I want to get huge.”

Alex Galbraith, 20, is a close friend and roommate of Bowes who often joins him at his workouts.

“He’s usually drenched when I see him,” said Galbraith, “He grunts a lot too. He is insane.”

When Bowes goes to the gym, he prefers to keep it old school. He lifts free weights such as barbells and dumbbells, and he never leaves the gym unless he feels that he has seriously worked his body.

“My throwing elbow is somewhat out of place, and getting a good lift in every now and then helps it feel so much better,” says Bowes.

Bowes has been playing baseball since he was 6 year old. Baseball and personal fitness are two of his greatest passions.

Bowes and the baseball team will travel to Indiana (Pa) on Friday before returning home to Tullio Field to take on IUP again on Saturday at noon.