The road to Omaha begins with Brian Klein

Baseball season is officially less than a week away and with that we start counting down our favorite returning players. We start out with No. 5 Brian Klein. The junior from Keller Texas started 49 out of 59 games in which he appeared in 2018. While he spent much of last season between the outfield and as designated hitter, he finished the last 15 games of the season at second base.

In his sophomore season last year, Klein was primarily used as the number two spot in the batting lineup. He had a batting average of .317 for 2018 and .302 in his career. He finished last season with 17 doubles, four home runs, two triples, 34 RBI and 50 runs scored, and amassed a .480 slugging percentage and a .422 on base percentage while going 4-for-4 in steals. More impressive still were his 18 multi-hit games, including five games with three or more hits. In 2018, Early in the season, he posted his first multi-home run against New Mexico State.

In conference play, he crossed home 27 times, a team-best, ranking third in the Big 12. He also managed to hit 10 doubles in league play to tie for third in the Big 12, and he set the single-game record for runs in a game with a grand total of six against Kansas State. He finished league play ranking fourth on the team with a .346 batting average, slating 27 hits in 78 at bats with 10 doubles, a home run and a triple to go with 10 RBI and 27 runs score. He finished fourth-best on base percentage of .436 and fifth-best slugging percentage at .538.

In the post season, he recorded five-multi-hit games while hitting safely in six of the last eight games. In the NCAA tournament he went five-for-13 with two walks, a double, four runs scored, two RBI and a stolen base earning a spot on the All-Lubbock Regional Team. During the College World Series, he was responsible for two out of four runs for the Red Raiders against Arkansas with a double play.

His contributions on the diamond and in the classroom earned him a First Team Academic All-Big 12 selection last season. Overall, Klein is expected to make a major contribution to the team this year in their pursuit of the College World Series.