FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Florida SouthWestern pipeline to Bowling Green, Kentucky will continue this year as Brock Knoerr has signed to join NJCAA Hall of Fame Head Coach Marc Rardin and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers for the 2026 season.
Knoerr was a 2nd Team All-Citrus Conference selection for the Bucs this season after transferring in from Stephen F. Austin University at the break. Knoerr finished the regular season reaching base at a .500 clip which ranked 4th in the Citrus Conference while finishing 2nd in the league drawing 42 walks on the year. He hit .314 overall with 6 doubles and 34 RBIs while swiping 10 bases and scoring 49 runs. He had 16 multi-hit games for the Bucs including three different stints of three straight multi-hit efforts. Knoerr was a key cog in the Bucs run to a number of program firsts this season including their first Citrus Conference Championship, their first FCSAA Championship, and their first trip to the Juco World Series.
Knoerr will join the Hilltoppers program coming off of a season in which they were on the top of the hill. Western Kentucky won 46 games and spent most of the season ranked inside the Top 25 of the Baseball America Poll. The Hilltoppers finished 2nd in the Conference USA regular season standings before winning the CUSA Tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2008 campaign. Knoerr will follow in the footsteps of former Bucs Lucas Hartman and Anthony Westbrook who both helped the 'Toppers to the league title this season.
Knoerr is one of six Bucs that have signed at the Division I level this season and one of eight overall who have signed at the next level thus far, joining Abel Albarran (Middle Tennessee St.), Luke Orfi (Texas Tech), Jake Mueller & Anthony Ruocco (UNC-Greensboro), Nathan Fink (Sam Houston State), and Nik Pereira & Josiah Velazquez (Tampa).