Honors
• MVC Pitcher of the Week (March 27, 2017)
2017: Knight turned in a career-best 3.97 earned run average in 15 total mound appearances (also a personal high) for the Bears as a junior ... Made eight starts and went 3-2 with 41 strikeouts in 59.0 innings ... Completed seven outings in which he held the opposition without an earned run ... Logged a 2-1 record and 1.03 ERA in his six outings at Hammons Field, permitting just a .190 opponent batting average ... Blanked Arkansas State (March 1) on four hits, fanning six hitters over 5.0 innings to combine on his first shutout as a Bear with a 13-0 decision ... Struck out a career-high seven batters at SEMO (March 15) ... Recorded a pair of scoreless starts at home, limiting New Orleans (March 21) to five hits over 7.0 innings, then blanking Missouri (April 28), striking out five while allowing just four baserunners (three hits) over 6 2/3 frames to pick up a 5-1 victory ... Named Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week on March 27 ... Fanned six more over 5.1 frames in a start at Kansas (May 2) ... Totaled three of the four outs he recorded via strikeout in a relief outing at Southern Illinois (May 7) to help the Bears pull out a 7-4 win in 11 innings to run their Valley win streak to 15 games ... Registered 4.2 innings of one-hit relief against the Salukis again in the Valley Tournament on May 25, keeping SIU off the scoreboard to allow the Bears time to rally from an early three-run deficit ... Also worked 2.0 innings against Illinois State (May 28), allowing just an unearned run on three hits ... Made his first postseason start against host Arkansas (June 4) at the NCAA Fayetteville Regional.
2016: Made nine starts and 15 total mound appearances as a sophomore, going 5-2 with a 5.33 ERA ... Held opponents to a .242 batting mark while fanning 41 hitters in his 52.1 innings of work ... MSU went 7-2 in his nine starts ... Worked three consecutive scoreless relief appearances (Feb. 19-March 4) to start the season, striking out four and allowing just two hits while notching his first collegiate save ... Made his first start of the season March 15 vs. Western Illinois, allowing just one earned run on three hits over 7.0 innings for his first victory as a Bear ... Tossed 7.0 more shutout innings of one-hit baseball to lock up a series sweep of Central Michigan (April 2) with a 7-1 decision; retired the first 13 batters of the game and fanned a career-best five hitters in all ... Blanked Missouri over 5.0 innings of a 16-1 win on April 12, striking out five while scattering five hits ... Ran his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 13.1 with 3.1 innings of relief at Wichita State (April 16) ... Earned the first of his two wins over Arkansas on May 3, striking out a career-best five batters in a 14-6 victory ... Hurled 2 1/3 hitless frames at DBU (May 14), once again matching his personal high with five punchouts ... Improved to 3-0 vs. SEC competition with 5.0 strong innings at Arkansas (May 17), allowing just a single earned run on one hit in an eventual 8-2 win ... Also went 5-2 over the summer pitching for the DuPage Drones of the Prospect League; logged a 2.61 ERA with 45 K’s in his eight appearances.
2015: Made a pair of mound appearances for the Bears as a freshman, logging a total of 1.2 innings ... Saw his first game action March 14 at Kansas State, holding the Wildcats scoreless on one hit in an inning of work ... Made his postseason debut in Game 1 of the Bears’ NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional, allowing a pair of runs to Arkansas in 2/3 of an inning ... Pitched for the Branson Nationals of the MINK League over the summer, logging a 3-2 record to go along with a 3.89 ERA in seven starts spanning 34.2 innings.
Background: Earned Ozark Conference MVP honors as a pitcher and outfielder for Lebanon High School as a senior in 2014, hitting .365 to go along with an 8-2 mound mark and a 1.12 earned run average ... Fanned 79 batters in 64 innings of work to pick up all-district and all-conference recognition as both a pitcher and outfielder for the Yellowjackets ... Posted a strong junior year that included a 6-2 record and a 1.88 ERA ... Tabbed for first-team all-district and all-conference recognition as a pitcher, as well as second-team laurels as an outfielder for a 14-11 LHS squad in 2013 ... Cited as the No. 18 prospect in Missouri by
Prep Baseball Report, Knight turned in a perfect 5-0 register over 32 innings of work over the summer competing with a KC Elite squad that finished 39-9 ... Also competed in football for Lebanon.
Personal: Austin Lloyd Knight is the son of Bryan Knight and Stachia Helton ... Born May 19, 1996 in Lebanon, Mo. ... Majoring in sport administration at MSU.
