One of the most decorated pitchers in the history of the Missouri S&T baseball program, Zack Gronek is completing work on his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering while serving as a student assistant on the Miner coaching staff during the 2013 season.
Gronek finished his Miner career last season with a record of 26-10 and set the S&T career records for wins, innings pitched (260 1/3) and strikeouts (202). He was a two-time all-region and all-Great Lakes Valley Conference performer at S&T, leading S&T to back-to-back GLVC West Division titles and the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament in 39 years in 2011.
At the 2011 Midwest Regional, Gronek threw a five-hit shutout with seven strikeouts in the Miners’ 2-0 victory over defending national champion Southern Indiana, the Miners’ first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament. That win capped a 10-1 campaign in which he recorded a 2.38 earned run average and struck out 64 in 87 innings of work.
A year later, Gronek broke his own single-season win mark by going 12-1, which was the third-best win total in Division II, while also ranking third in walks per nine innings with 0.88. He had a 3.23 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 92 innings as he finished the year by winning his final 11 decisions.
