NCBWA All-Region  |  D2CCA All-Region

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University baseball standout senior Michael Kitko has been named to the 2026 All-Atlantic Region Teams by both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association (D2CCA), the organizations recently announced.
 
Already named to the All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Team as a first team utility player, Kitko was also a first team honoree regionally by the D2CCA and the NCBWA at the same position.
 
The recent honors complete the first two legs of Kitko's bid to become Slippery Rock baseball's 18th student-athlete to be a consensus all-region choice in program history. Only the America Baseball Coaches Association All-Atlantic Region team remains to be announced.
 
2026 was a career-year for Kitko, who hit .403 with a .441 on-base percentage and a .585 slugging percentage to go along with 25 runs, six home runs and 44 RBIs.
 
Indicative of such an impressive batting average, Kitko led SRU with 18 multi-hit games this season. He also ranked sixth in the PSAC in batting average, sixth in hits per game (1.36), seventh in hits (64), and 13th in RBIs. With just one strikeout every 19.9 at-bats, Kitko was slotted seventh in Division II in the NCAA's "toughest to strikeout" statistic.
 
Kitko's .403 batting average and 64 hits were tied for the second highest in a single-season by a Rock athlete over the last decade.
 
In addition to his 44 starts as a position player, Kitko also made nine pitching appearances, going 2-2 with 27 strikeouts in 25.2 innings of work.
 
Kitko leaves Slippery Rock having started 133 games in the field and as a .349 career hitter (158-for-453) with 76 runs, 11 home runs and 99 RBIs. In 30 career pitching appearances, the product of Moshannon Valley High School went 8-3 with five saves and a 3.53 ERA across 74 innings pitched. He struck out 86 batters at The Rock while issuing just 29 walks.
 
The D2CCA All-Region teams are nominated for and voted on by the athletic communications professionals in each region. As a first team honoree, Kitko advances to the national ballot for All-America consideration. The D2CCA All-America Team will be unveiled on May 27. Simerly, as a first team NCBWA honoree, Kitko moves on that organization's national ballot as well for All-America consideration. The NCBWA All-America Team will be released in late May.
 
If Kitko were to earn all-region honors from the ABCA he would join former Slippery Rock greats Dan Herisko (2005), Phil Butch (2006, 2007), MJ Parsons (2007), Matt Adams (2007, 2008, 2009), Scott Bender (2008), Matt Howard (2011), Lou Trivino (2012), Will Kengor (2013, 2014), Adam Urbania (2015), Tyler Walters (2017, 2018), Joe Campagna (2018, 2019), Jon Kozarian (2021), Connor Hamilton (2021, 2022), Devin Dunn (2022), Alex Robenolt (2022), Luke Trueman (2023) and Gage Gillott (2024, 2025) as consensus all-region award winners over the last 20 years.
 
Slippery Rock recently completed its 2026 season with a 30-18 record, for what was the program's third 30-win season in the last five years, while advancing to the PSAC Tournament.
 




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