Patriots earn additional All-Region baseball awards

Two members of the Francis Marion University baseball team, senior catcher Jared Barkdoll and junior shortstop Barrett Kleinknecht, were recently named to the ABCA All-Southeast Region Team, while Kleinknecht and senior right-handed pitcher David Walters were awarded Rawlings Gold Glove awards for the Southeast Region.

Barkdoll and Kleinknecht were selected to the 16-player second-team All-Region squad. Barkdoll was also a second-team selection in 2008.

Barkdoll batted .386 with 35 runs scored, 14 doubles, three home runs, and 41 runs batted in, despite missing 10 games with an injury. The Greencastle, Pa., native compiled a .456 on-base percentage and a .992 fielding percentage – only two errors and two passed balls in 44 games – while throwing out 12 of 38 runners attempting to steal. He recorded 23 multi-hit games and 13 multi-RBI games.

He finished his career owning the school’s all-time records for RBIs (162) and total bases (364), while tying the all-time mark for doubles (50) and ranking second in base hits (258).

Kleinknecht, a hometown product from Florence, batted .372 this past season with 50 runs scored and team-leading totals of 16 doubles, nine homers, and 64 RBIs. His RBI total was two shy of the team record. He had a pair of 12-game hitting streaks, 27 multi-hit games, and 17 multi-RBI games. In the field, he committed only 11 errors in 256 chances and contributed to 28 double plays.

Walters, a native of River Hill, Md., led the Patriot pitching staff with 15 starts, while posting a 7-3 record and a 5.97 ERA. Only nine base runners attempted to steal while he was on the mound, and four of those were unsuccessful. Defensively, he did not commit an error in 22 fielding chances.

The three players helped Francis Marion post a 38-15-1 record this past year, the second-highest win total in the program’s history. The Patriots finished second during the PBC regular season, won the Peach Belt Tournament title, and earned their fourth NCAA Division II national tournament bid in the past seven years, placing third at the Southeast Regional. The Patriots are currently ranked 14th in the latest Collegiate Baseball Magazine NCAA Division II Top 30 poll.
Earlier, the three players earned second-team Daktronics All-Region and first-team Peach Belt Conference All-Conference recognition.