John Schuknecht
John Schuknecht is a potential starter in right field as a senior at Cal Poly this spring, and is one of only two seniors on the roster.
In 2015, Schuknecht played in 49 of Cal Poly’s 54 games, including 48 starts, as a junior. He had 10 starts at third base, followed by six starts at first base and 32 in right field. Schuknecht was primarily fifth or sixth in the batting order, a .237 hitter with 24 RBI and four steals in six attempts. Among his 41 hits were four doubles, three triples and six home runs (second on the team). His six sacrifice flies led the squad. He opened the season going 4-for-5 at Baylor with a double. He went 3-for-4 against USC and UC Davis and produced six two-hit games. Schuknecht homered twice, both solo shots, against Long Beach State on April 26. He hit .291 in Big West games and .315 against southpaws. He played summer ball for San Luis Obispo Blues, hitting .200 with a double, triple and four RBI in 18 games.
In 2014, Schuknecht played in 30 games with 23 starts, three at second base and the rest at first base. He hit .286 with seven doubles, three triples, one home run (Northern Illinois) and 11 RBI. He stole two bases, and only had five errors in 185 fielding chances. He had seven multiple-hit games, all two-hit efforts. He also had a pair of multiple-RBI contests. Schuknecht started most games in the final month of the season and lifted his average 108 points by going 16-for-39 (.410) with seven RBI. He started all four NCAA Regional games and went 6-for-13 (.462). Schuknecht hit .571 as a leadoff hitter (16-for-28), hit .360 with runners in scoring position. He played summer ball for Rochester Honkers in Northwoods League and hit .312 with eight doubles, a triple, two home runs and 14 RBI.
In 2013, Schuknecht started 23 games, 11 in the outfield and 12 at first base. As a true freshman, playing in 11 other contests as well. He hit .301 with four doubles, one triple (Cal State Northridge) and a pair of home runs, a three-run shot at Kansas State on March 8 and a solo blast against Pepperdine on March 26. Schuknecht also had a sacrifice fly in Kansas State game for a total of four RBI. He scored 15 times and knocked in 11 runs for season. He had eight multiple-hit games and pair of multiple-RBI contests. His average was at .200 before going 15-for-33 (.454) in final 10 games of season to elevate mark 101 points. Schuknecht had four consecutive two-hit games during late-season run and had three hits in three Los Angeles Regional games. He hit .300 against lefties and .302 against right-handers, a .520 average as leadoff hitter and hit .367 with the bases empty. He hit .371 in Big West games and .362 in day contests. Schuknecht played summer ball for Victoria HarbourCats in West Coast Collegiate Baseball League, hitting .248 with nine doubles, six home runs, 18 RBI and five steals.
During his high-school career, he earned first-team All-Desert Valley League and CIF-Southern Section Division 4 honors as a senior second baseman under head coach Darol Salazar at Palm Desert High School. He hit .342 with 38 hits, 36 runs scored, 11 doubles, six triples, two home runs and 16 RBI to lead Aztecs to 26-8 overall record, first place in Desert Valley League at 12-0 and the CIF-Southern Section Division 4 championship, Palm Desert’s second in three years. He also stole 18 of 19 bases and compiled .417 on-base percentage and .604 slugging percentage. Schuknecht hit .441 as a sophomore and .402 as a junior. During his junior year, he collected 11 doubles, two triples and 20 RBI along with four stolen bases as the Aztecs posted a 28-5 record, won the Desert Valley League title and reached the championship finals of the CIF-Southern Section Division 4 playoffs. He was team offensive MVP, second-team all-league and was batting title runner-up in the Desert Valley League. Schuknecht landed spots on the North/South and Royal Elite teams. As a sophomore, he drove in 25 runs with 12 doubles, a triple and four home runs, stealing seven bases in route to honorable mention all-league honors. He was a member of Honor Roll and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Schuknecht was recruited by Sacramento State, Long Beach State, Oregon, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside and Arizona, choosing Cal Poly because “I fell in love with the campus and coaching staff. It has a very reputable baseball program and it is a great academic school as well.”
As the son of Jeff and Sharon Schuknecht, he has two brothers, David and Steven. David played baseball at Riverside City College last spring after a redshirt year at Arizona due to a labrum injury and played at UC Santa Barbara in 2014. Schuknecht was born July 12, 1994, in Palm Springs, California and majors in communication studies.