Falcons’ baseball standout balances rigorous pre-medicine degree path with athletic success

Driven by a passion for medicine, BGSU senior Gavin Ganun excels in the classroom and on the field

On the frequent bus rides during baseball season, one of the Falcons’ best players can relax and prepare for the next game, knowing he is up to date with the assignments, exams, labs and other coursework that accompany his challenging academic lineup.

As an applied health science major following the pre-medicine track, Bowling Green State University senior outfielder and first baseman Gavin Ganun is able to put the Abnormal Psychology, Microbiology and Biochemistry textbooks aside for most road trips, confident his rigid work ethic outside the classroom has allowed him to focus on baseball during the next weekend series.

“For me, time management is just so important,” Ganun said. “I have to take it one day at a time and get all of my homework and other assignments done ahead of time, because ultimately, school has to come first.

“I can’t play baseball forever and what I am doing in school is related to my life after baseball. I have to be very disciplined.”

Supportive culture

Ganun, who has been named Academic All-Mid-American Conference in the past two seasons, said Bowling Green was the ideal choice for him – a place where he could continue his baseball career as a Division I student-athlete and pursue his long-term goal of working in medicine, enrolled in the College of Health and Human Services.

“People might not think of BG as a pre-med school, but it is a comfortable community to learn in, with good professors, good advisors and a lot of good students in the program,” he said. “The culture here is perfect.”

Ganun, who is one of the Falcons' leading hitters this year, posting a .314 batting average as the season neared its halfway point, said that personal discipline must extend beyond the campus and the baseball diamond.

“We play so many games – you can get behind quickly if you don’t stay on top of things.”

Ganun said the support he has received from his BGSU instructors and the Office of Pre-Professional Programs has made his pathway to a May graduation possible.

“For all of the athletes here at BG, there is a lot of help from our advisors to make sure we get the right classes and stay on track to graduate,” he said. “The support we get has been great.

Winning tradition

Ganun entered this season having appeared in 82 games for the Falcons during his career. He was a key part of the record-setting 2024 season that saw BGSU baseball earn its first MAC regular season championship since 2009 while winning 33 games, finishing 24-6 in the conference and breaking a MAC record with a 17-0 start in the league.

Winning is familiar for Ganun, who came to Bowling Green from the ultra-successful Michigan high school program at Blissfield, where he was a big part of three district championship teams.

“I came to this program used to winning, and we’ve kept it going here at Bowling Green,” he said.

A post-baseball career in medicine has been on Ganun’s radar since he enrolled at BGSU.

“That has been my goal all along — to work in the medical field. I’ve always liked helping people, and BGSU is providing me the opportunity to achieve that goal through its pre-med track.”

He has taken advantage of job shadowing opportunities while doubling up with baseball and the demands of his pre-med track at BGSU. Ganun plans to take a year or more following graduation to get more shadowing hours and prepare for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), a standardized exam required by most medical schools.

“My immediate future might look different than some pre-med students, since I first want to spend a lot more time studying for the MCAT, plus I want to get in more hours in hospital settings,” he said. “I’d like to gain more observation hours with an anesthesiologist, but I definitely plan to be working in a hospital environment in some manner.”