Patriots named to pre-season Collegiate Baseball honors list

Three Francis Marion University baseball players have been named to Collegiate Baseball Magazine’s 2009 pre-season honor roll. Senior catcher Jared Barkdoll was named to the pre-season All-America squad, while senior right-handed pitcher David Walters was among those chosen as “Players to Watch” from the Southeast Region and junior shortstop and pitcher Barrett Kleinknecht was among those chosen as “Newcomers to Watch” from the Southeast Region.

Barkdoll, a native of Greencastle, Pa., was an All-Region and All-Peach Belt Conference pick last season while hitting .362 with seven home runs and 50 runs batted in. Walters, a native of River Hill, Md., posted a 9-4 record last year with a 4.66 earned run average. He was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 47th round of last year’s draft, but chose to return to school for his senior year. Kleinknecht is a hometown product from Florence and a graduate of West Florence High School. He transferred from Florence-Darlington Technical College.

The Patriots will host the annual South Atlantic Challenge this weekend with three games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at noon, 3 p.m., and 6 p.m. each day.

By Michael G. Hawkins