2026 ABCA All-Region Team
 
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University baseball standout Michael Kitko earned yet another postseason accolade Wednesday when he was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Atlantic Region Team.
 
Kitko, a senior outfielder / pitcher, was a first team selection by the ABCA as a utility player. Wednesday's announcement officially makes Kitko a consensus all-region honoree for the 2026 season as he was previously voted a first team all-region performer by both the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
 
In earning consensus all-region status, Kitko joins an exclusive list of former Slippery Rock greats to accomplish the feat over the last 22 years.
 
Dating back to the 2004 season, 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) Gage Gillott (2024, 2025) and now Kitko have all been consensus all-region choices from The Rock.
 
As a first team selection, Kitko advances to the ABCA Division II All-America ballot. The 2026 ABCA All-America Team will be announced Friday.
 
If he were to be named an All-American by the ABCA, Kitko would be the 25th All-American in program history. Slippery Rock has had at least one All-American in 14 of the past 15 years in which postseason awards have been distributed.
 
Prior to his all-region selections, Kitko was named to the All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Team as a first team utility selection.
 
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. He struck out 86 batters at The Rock while issuing just 29 walks.
 
Major award winners selected by the ABCA for the 2026 season included Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year Julian Costa of West Chester University and Brady McGuire of Seton Hill University, who earned ABCA Atlantic Region Player of the Year accolades.
 
The ABCA All-Region Teams are voted on by members of the ABCA and the process is led by the ABCA NCAA Division II All-America Committee.
 
Founded in 1945, the American Baseball Coaches Association is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level. Its over 15,000 members represent all 50 states and 40 countries. Since its initial meeting of 27 college baseball coaches in June 1945, Association membership has broadened to include nine divisions: NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA, Pacific Association Division, High School, Youth and Travel.
 
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.





To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official Athletic Communication accounts on 'X' (formerly Twitter, @Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics) and Instagram (RockAthletics).