Cougar athletes Ashlee and Dillon Robinson are headed into their third seasons with their teams and their first season with each other. Ashlee is the third baseman for the BYU softball team and Dillon is the new catcher for the BYU baseball team.
After running into each other at the Student Athlete Building and the Indoor Practice Facility, the Robinsons were set up on a double date by their teammates around winter semester finals last year.
'It was the last day of finals, and it came down to the decision of, 'Should I go on the date or should I study and take my last final?'' Dillon Robinson said. 'I decided not to study, and I'm glad I didn't. I ended up marrying her.'
BYU softball's third baseman, Ashlee Robinson, and baseball's new catcher, Dillon Robinson, were married in December. (Photo by Chris Bunker)
Although they spend a significant amount of time with their teams, the Robinsons go home to each other, battle for the better walk-up song and even squeeze in some extra time to practice together. Whether tossing a softball or a baseball, they are able to improve their game and relationship. Instead of turning to a teammate, Ashlee Robinson enjoys being able to practice hitting with her husband.
'It was weird for me at first because I've never had anything like that,' Dillon Robinson said. 'I could talk baseball with her, and before dating her, I told myself I wouldn't date a softball player.'
Dillon Robinson eventually saw that this softball player would change up his game; however, Ashlee Robinson liked baseball players from the start.
'My brothers played, and I have always liked being at the field,' Ashlee Robinson said. 'I think athletes are good looking, and you can never go wrong with an athlete.'
With Ashlee working towards her degree in advertising and Dillon a finance major, the couple has to balance school work, practices, weightlifting and games, which can make it difficult to find time for each other. However, the Robinsons have already formed a routine. Ashlee Robinson said they have planned their schedules around each other as much as possible. Although they cannot coordinate rides to and from campus because of their athletic schedules, they make time to see each other by doing things like having lunch together before they head off to practice.
'Every decision is made off of each other,' Dillon Robinson said. 'It's actually easier being married than dating because we know exactly what is happening and we know each other's schedules.'
Most college athletes spend the majority of their athletic careers bunking with their teammates, but the sleeping arrangements are different for some BYU athletes. Dillon Robinson is one of nine married Cougars on the baseball team. It has become a tradition for the baseball players' wives to get together to support their Cougars. But with a busy schedule of her own, it could be a challenge for Ashlee Robinson to be able to join in on the fun.
The spring season will be the Robinsons' first as a married couple, and both of them have scheduled games all over the country. Softball kicks off this weekend in St. George against Colorado State at the Red Desert Classic after a 7-0-1 winning record in fall tournament play. The baseball season starts the following weekend against Northern Colorado at the Brooks Wallace Memorial Classic in Texas.
Both Ashlee and Dillon Robinson are coming off injuries they each suffered in the fall. Ashlee Robinson rolled her foot in an agility exercise during bootcamp, causing a Jones fracture. Dillon Robinson was injured while power-cleaning during lifting, which injury he later found out, after an X-ray, was a fractured thumb. No longer the injured couple on campus, they are back lifting and catching up for the start of the 2013 season.