Jim Klocke

Classroom

Klocke has a 3.945 grade point average in business administration with an emphasis in finance. He won the OVC Medal of Honor (2008-09), was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American Second Team (2008-09) and the OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09), and was the Southeast Scholar Athlete (2006-07).

Character

Klocke has shown tremendous leadership since his arrival to the team as a freshman.  On and off the field, Klocke is a class act.  He is extremely coachable and is everything you want out of a player, as he leads by example. On the field, he shows leadership on offense and defense, as he competes as a pitcher and catcher and consistently ranks among the league’s best in hitting.  Off the field, he makes sure that he performs at the same high level in the classroom and in the community.  There is no better all-around student-athlete than Klocke.

Community

Klocke participates in the following community service activities: Cape Girardeau Middle School Family Reading Night, SEMO SAAC “Deck the Halls” Holiday Fundraising and the St. Francis Medical Center Cancer Awareness Walk. Klocke also helped move elderly to new residence in Cape Girardeau and gave out Halloween candy at St. LaCroix Church in Cape Girardeau.

Competition

In 2009, Klocke was drafted in the 46th round (1,389th overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. He was named a Louisville Slugger third-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball, becoming just the second player in Southeast history to earn All-American honors in multiple seasons. He was voted first-team All-OVC catcher for the second consecutive season and was an All Ping! honorable mention selection. He became the team’s closer and finished 75th nationally with seven saves. His seven saves rank third in Southeast single-season history. He had a 15-game hitting streak from April 18 - May 16 in which he hit .569 (33-for-58) with eight doubles, five home runs, 16 RBIs, 56 total bases, 25 runs scored, 10 walks, a .966 slugging percentage, .638 on base percentage and only two strikeouts during that span. As a sophomore, Klocke was named first-team All-OVC catcher after leading the team and finishing seventh in the conference with a .357 batting average. During his freshman season, Klocke was named OVC Freshman of the Year and a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American.