Zach Kroenke Season 2003

Honors & Awards

• 2005 MLB 5th-round Draft Pick (NYY)
• 2005 Second Team All-Big 12
• 2004 Second Team All-Big 12 (Coaches, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Morning News)
• Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Week (4/5/04)
• 2004 Husker Power Lifter of the Year Finalist
• Big 12 Pitcher of the Week (4/10/03)
• 2003 NCAA Lincoln Regional All-Tournament Team
• Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (Spring 2004)

2005: Left-hander Zach Kroenke (pronounced KRON-nec-key) ended his Husker career with another great year, going 7-2 with an ERA of 2.78. On the season, Kroenke struck out a career-high 88 batters in 97.0 innings, while only allowing walks to 28. He also threw a career-best four complete-games on the year, including a shutout on April 2 against Oklahoma State. In the 117-pitch effort against the Cowboys, Kroenke fanned seven and gave up only three hits to earn his fourth win of the season. Kroenke's performance on the season was good enough to earn him second team All-Big 12 honors for the second consecutive year.

2004: Kroenke served as the ace of the Husker staff in 2004, going 7-5 with a 3.03 ERA to earn second-team All-Big 12 honors • Led the squad in innings pitched (104), a total which ranked sixth in school history, while his 15 starts tied for eighth on NU’s single-season chart • Finished first or second on the team in wins (second), strikeouts (73, second) and opponent batting average (.238) • Ranked in the top 10 in the league in four categories, including fourth in complete games, sixth in ERA, eighth in opponent batting average, as he averaged nearly seven innings per start • Pitched at least five innings in 14 of his 15 appearances, while holding opponents to two runs or less in nine of his final 12 starts • Went 4-4 with a 3.38 ERA in a team-best 64 innings during the conference season • Pitched better than his numbers indicate, as NU was held to four runs or less in eight of his nine Big 12 starts • Got off to a quick start, going 6-0 with a 1.84 ERA in his first nine starts • Opened the season by striking out a career-high 11 Wildcats and not allowing an earned run over 6.1 innings in a win over Northwestern on Feb. 20 • Picked up his second win in as many starts one week later against Northwestern State, going 7.0 innings and allowing five hits in an 8-4 win • Turned in a dominant performance against Boston College, allowing one run and fanning eight in 7.1 innings on March 18 • Scattered one hit over his first 6.1 innings of work • Was solid in NU’s Big 12 opener, holding Kansas to a pair of runs on five hits over 6.1 innings in a 3-2 win on March 26 • Enjoyed his best effort of the season at Kansas State, tossing a complete-game one-hit shutout on April 2 • Fanned seven Wildcats and allowed one runner in scoring position to toss the first one-hitter by a Husker since Aaron Marsden in 2002 • Was selected Big 12 Player of the Week for his performance • Went eight strong innings against Texas Tech, scattering seven hits and allowing one run in a 3-1 victory on April 9 • Out-dueled Texas A&M ace Jason Meyer in a 4-1 complete-game win over No. 10 Texas A&M on April 30 • Retired the first 13 Aggies he faced in throwing a 108-pitch gem • Pitched well down the stretch, getting to the seventh inning or later in his final four starts, but went winless in that stretch • Allowed two runs on nine hits over seven innings at Baylor, but took a hard-luck 2-1 loss • Pitched well in the Big 12 Tournament in Arlington, allowing two runs on six hits in 7.1 innings, but was hurt by a lack of offensive production in a loss to Oklahoma State on May 28.

2003: Kroenke was one of the Big 12’s top freshman hurlers, going 6-2 with a 2.72 ERA in 59.2 innings • Enjoyed nearly a 2-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (35-to-19) and held opponents to a .239 batting average • Made 15 appearances, including 10 starts, and held opponents to three runs or less in 14 of his 15 outings • Tossed two combined shutouts (Cal Poly and at Kansas) • Began the year working out of the bullpen before making his first career start at No. 1 Rice on March 18 • Performed well against the Owls, allowing just three runs in a 4-1 loss to the eventual NCAA champions • Earned his first win in his next start, scattering four hits and striking out four in six shutout innings against Cal Poly on March 25 • Picked up his second win of the week four days later, allowing two runs on three hits in 5.2 innings of work in a 5-2 win over Oklahoma • Shared Big 12 Pitcher-of-the-Week honors with Aaron Marsden • Was dominant against Kansas on April 5, scattering two hits - including one out of the infield - while striking out a season-high six Jayhawks in a 13-0 win • Came out of the bullpen to pick up a win over No. 25 Minnesota on April 30, scattering one hit over four scoreless innings • Pitched a gem against Creighton in front of over 11,000 fans at Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium, hurling five shutout innings and allowing two hits in a win over Creighton on May 13 • Went 1-0 with a 4.26 ERA in two postseason appearances, making starts against Baylor in the Big 12 Tourney and Eastern Michigan in an elimination game during the NCAA Tournament • Fired his first complete game against Eastern Michigan in the NCAA Tournament, allowing two runs on just eight hits while matching his season high with six strikeouts.

Northwest High School: Kroenke was one of the state’s premier pitchers playing for Coach Todd Wesslund at Omaha Northwest High School • Rated among the nation’s top-200 players by Team One Baseball as a senior • Chosen as a first-team All-Nebraska selection by the Lincoln Journal Star, compiling a 4-5 mark with a 3.42 ERA, while leading the state with 90 strikeouts in 53 innings • Spent the summer following his senior year playing Connie Mack baseball for the Midland (Ohio) Redskins, going 8-1 with a save and a 1.76 ERA in 59 innings • Helped his summer team to a 55-11 record and a third-place finish at the Connie Mack World Series • Lettered three times on the diamond at Northwest and also lettered twice in cross country • Was an honor roll student and a member of the athletic decathlon team at Omaha Northwest • Recruited by Kansas and Winthrop before selecting NU.

Personal: Born on April 21, 1984, in Omaha • Parents are Brent and Cindy Kroenke • Has one sister (Erin) • Majors in psychology at Nebraska.

Career Stats