Matt Rodgers, 2011 Clarkston High School graduate, signed a National Letter of Intent accepting an athletic scholarship to play baseball next season for the University of Evansville, an NCAA D1 program in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Rodgers will primarily play first base for the Purple Aces, but will also get an opportunity to pitch for his new team. He will continue his academic studies majoring in Business Administration.
Rodgers was a standout on the diamond for the past two seasons playing for Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Illinois. Lincoln Trail plays in a very competitive NJCAA D1 Great Lakes Athletic Conference in southern Illinois.
Rodger’s career numbers at Lincoln Trail included a .359 batting average, .501 on-base percentage and .626 slugging percentage from the plate and a 4.02 earned run average, 8.04 strikeouts per game and 2.86 strikeouts per walk ratio on the mound.
He led his team in batting average, on-base percentage, runs and walks as a freshman. As a sophomore, he led his team in every batting statistic, which included eight home runs, seven triples and 16 doubles, earning him First Team All-Conference and First Team All-Region honors.
He was also a standout in the classroom at Lincoln Trail College. In May, he earned his Associates Degree in Business with a cumulative GPA of 3.85.
He had two semesters recording a 4.00 GPA, was a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and was honored as Business Student of the Year.
Rodgers is playing summer ball for the second consecutive year for the Lake Erie Monarchs in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League.
The Monarchs are based out of Toledo, OH and play their home games at Ned Skeldon Stadium in Maumee, OH.