Koch named D1Baseball preseason All-American

FAYETTEVILLE — Razorback junior catcher Grant Koch was named a Preseason Third Team All-American by D1Baseball.com earlier this month.

It’s the second preseason honor for a Razorback this year heading into the 2018 season, following Blaine Knight, who earned a preseason All-American nod from Collegiate Baseball back in December.

Koch is the first Arkansas player to be named a D1Baseball Preseason All-American since Zach Jackson in 2016 and he returns to Fayetteville as one of the best catchers in the Southeastern Conference.

The Hog backstop was a constant in the lineup last year as he started in nearly every game (63 games), and hit .264 with a career-best 13 home runs and 42 RBIs.

His home run total was the seventh most in the conference, most among catchers, and most by a Razorback catcher in the Dave Van Horn era.

The Fayetteville-native put his name among the best catchers in Razorback history as he had a great 12-game start to the season, racking up a .358 average with 18 hits, 18 RBIs, and five home runs.

It was the best offensive start to a season by an Arkansas catcher since Brady Toops in 2004.

He went on to finish the season with 15 multi-hit games and 11 multi-RBI games, which were good for third on the team and he was lethal in the field as he caught 16 base stealers in 24 attempts (.600), good for third in the league.

Koch went on to earn a place on the All-SEC First Team becoming just the second Razorback catcher to earn an All-SEC distinction and the first to be named to the first team.

He was also named a Johnny Bench Award semifinalist later in the year, the only SEC catcher to make the list.

Arkansas is scheduled to open the 2018 season against Bucknell on Friday, Feb. 16 with first pitch at 3 p.m. at Baum Stadium.K