MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama baseball program signed Kyle Bartsch to a National Letter of Intent, as announced Monday by head coach Mark Calvi.

Bartsch, a native of Hurst, Texas, went 5-1 with a 4.09 ERA and recorded 37 strikeouts against 15 walks in 44 innings pitched last season at Howard College. He helped the Hawks to a 46-13 record en route to their third consecutive Western Junior College Athletic Conference championship.

“Kyle is a very good student and a very competitive kid,” Calvi said. “He pitched at one of the best junior colleges in the country, bar none. He is versatile; he has started and come out of the bullpen. He is a mid-to-upper 80s guy and touched 90 as a starter, and probably has a little more juice as a short reliever. He has a really good changeup and a solid breaking pitch. He gets after it – he holds the running game well and does some of the little things that older guys who have already played college baseball tend to do. He is a solid, reliable addition to this team and pitching staff. We feel very fortunate that at this late time, someone of his quality was still available.”

Bartsch, a six-foot, 180-pound left-hander, attended West Texas A&M University as a freshman, and is a 2009 graduate of L.D. Bell High School in Hurst where he earned class 5A all-district honors as a junior.

“Kyle has plus feel for a changeup and very good depth on his breaking ball,” South Alabama pitching coach Bob Keller said. “He has a repeatable delivery from a high three-quarter slot that pounds the zone with a lot of strikes. He comes from a very well-coached junior college program. (Howard College head coach) Britt Smith does a great job with the pitchers over there. Kyle was in their rotation early (last season), and was in the bullpen later on. He had a stellar performance in the playoffs, and had some very good outings during the season.

“He throws a lot of strikes from the left side, and we recruited him with the idea that he can fit into the rotation. He’s definitely not pigeonholed only there, but we believe he can be in the top four or five pitchers on the team. He had several other schools on him; he had four or five offers that we beat out. But he decided this was where he wanted to be after visiting here.”

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

-USA-

2011-12 South Alabama Baseball Signees