2024 Baseball Roster
Roster
Stephen, Khal
RHP
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RHP
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Jersey Number 14
Khal Stephen
- Position:
- RHP
- Ht./Wt.:
- 6-4 / 215
- B/T:
- R/R
- Class:
- Junior
- Hometown:
- Williamsport, Ind.
- High School/Previous School:
- Seeger HS / Purdue
Bio
Honors / Awards
2024 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll2024 Third Team D1 Baseball All-American (P)
2024 Third Team ABCA/Rawlings All-American (P)
2024 Third Team NCBWA All-American (P)
2024 ABCA/Rawlings South All-Region First Team (P)
2024 Charlottesville All-Regional Team (P)
2024 First Team All-SEC Team (P)
2023 Third Team All-Big Ten
2023 Academic All-Big Ten
Career Notes & Records
Draft: Picked by the Toronto Blue Jays with the 59th overall pick in the Second Round of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft. This was Mississippi State's 12th second-round pick.
2024 (Junior Season)
Season: Named Third Team All-American by D1 Baseball, ABCA/Rawlings All-American, and NCBWA All-American … NCAA Charlottesville All-Regional Team (P) … ABCA All-Region Honoree … First Team All-SEC Starting Pitcher… Golden Spikes Award Performance of the Week (Feb. 21) … Made 16 appearances all starts and finished with an 8-3 record … Struck out 107 with a 3.28 ERA, which was the seventh best in the SEC for strikeouts and ERA … Pitched 96 innings to come in third-most in the SEC … Only issued 21 walks, the fewest on the team … Held opponents to a .213 batting average ... Tallied a career-high 11 strikeouts against Air Force (Feb. 24) and Auburn (April 19) … Had three double-digit strike out games … Twelve of his 16 starts went for six or more innings … Posted a 5.10 strikeout-to-walk ratio the sixth best in the SEC.
Air Force (2/17): Made first start as a Diamond Dawg … Struck out season-high 11 without surrendering a walk in seven innings of work. Georgia Southern (2/24): Punched out three with a single walk in 2.1 innings pitched. Mount St. Mary’s (3/2): Picked up first Diamond Dawg win … Did not allow a run to score with nine punchouts through six innings pitched. Evansville (3/9): Earned second win with three strikeouts in six innings pitched. LSU (3/16): Had one strikeout in two innings of work. Texas A&M (3/22): Surrendered a single run in 6.2 innings pitched with five strikeouts. Florida (3/29): Pitched six innings grabbed eight strikeouts. Georgia (4/5): Did not allow an earned run in 6.2 innings pitched … Punched out seven Georgia batters. Ole Miss (4/12): Did not surrender a walk or run with nine punchouts through eight innings of work … Earned fifth win of the season. Auburn (4/19): Tied season-high 11 strikeouts … Earned seven innings and did not allow an earned run. Vanderbilt (4/26): Had six punchouts in 7.1 innings of work. Alabama (5/3): Pitched five innings and had six strikeouts. Arkansas (5/10): Struck out six and did not walk a Razorback in seven innings pitched. Missouri (5/16): Punched out eight Tigers in six innings to pick up eighth win. St. John’s (5/31): Pitched season-high eight innings and struck out 10 without a walk surrendered.
2023 (Sophomore Season – Purdue)
Pitched in 14 games, all starts … Started Purdue's season, home and Big Ten openers … Led the way as the Boilermakers went 6-2 on Fridays in Big Ten play … Recognized as the team's Pitcher of the Year … Program's first sophomore to be the Opening Day starter since 2016; went on to become Purdue's first sophomore to be an All-Big Ten pitcher since 2017 … Helped the Boilermakers win three straight series openers twice from March 24 to May 5, with the team winning six of his seven starts during that stretch … Struck out seven through six innings and limited the home team to just two runs through six as Purdue became the first visiting team to win on a Friday at Maryland since May 2019.
2022 (Freshman Season – Purdue)
Pitched in a team-high 23 games, all in relief … Purdue's first freshman to lead the team in appearances since 2001 … Emerged as the team's top high-leverage reliever for much of the season, helping the team win key games down the stretch vs. Michigan, Iowa and Northwestern … Averaged 10.16 strikeouts per nine innings, moving into ninth place on Purdue's single-season list (minimum 30 innings) … Struck out five of the six batters he faced in the May 10 vs. Butler, posting the best clip (83%) of batters struck out with a minimum five Ks since 2005 … Also fanned six of 12 batters faced in the game 2 win at Iowa, including four in a row … In the Purdue win at Iowa, stranded runners on second and third by striking out the 7-8-9 hitters in order … Impressed in summer ball while pitching for the Danville Dans of the Prospect League in the month of June … Named the Prospect League's Roland Hemond Pro Prospect of the Year after going 4-0 with a 2.02 ERA and 36 strikeouts vs. 19 hits in 26 2/3 innings.
High School
Lettered for coach Reed Foxworthy at Seeger High School, located west of Greater Lafayette near the Illinois state line … Also a multi-year all-conference performer in football … Earned 11 varsity letters overall … Lafayette Journal & Courier Small School Area Player of the Year as a senior … As a standout safety on the gridiron, also was the Journal & Courier’s Area Defensive Player of the Year as a senior … Racked up 100 strikeouts vs. seven walks in 51 2/3 innings in 2021… All-State and Indiana North-South All-Star game selection in both football and baseball … Two-way standout batted .541 with 26 extra-base hits and 40 RBI while compiling a 1.35 ERA and .165 batting average against on the mound as a senior … Registered 99 strikeouts as a sophomore on varsity … Scored five touchdowns and kick all five extra points in a Seeger win as a junior, accounting for all of his team’s 35 points … Helped Seeger win 15 consecutive games and reach the sectional championship game in 2021 … Also played for the Indiana Nitro travel ball team, winning a 17U state championship … Continued as a two-way player for the Bomb Square in the Grand Park League in the summer of 2021 … All-A honor roll student … National Honor Society member.
Personal
Son of Mark and Kris Stephen … Has two brothers Khade and Khayne … Khade played football and baseball at Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana.
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