O’Fallon’s Hopkins Signs With SIUE Baseball

"Sam is a great kid and a great student," Stoecklin said. "He comes from a high school program with a great history of winning."

Hopkins, a right-handed pitcher and outfielder, is 4-1 this season with a 1.00 earned run average. He is second on the team with 35 innings pitched and leads the team with 37 strikeouts while walking only 13.

"On the mound, he is extremely competitive," Stoecklin added. "He expects to win and he throws a lot of strikes."

As a junior, Hopkins was 10-2 with a 2.24 ERA and 22 strikeouts, helping O'Fallon to a 14-6 overall record and a Southwestern Conference championship with a 6-1 record. Hopkins was honored as a first team All-Southwestern Conference selection and a second team All-Metro pick, as chosen by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Stoecklin also said it's important to attract local talent to SIUE.

"Our No. 1 priority is to recruit locally," he said. "We want to give kids an opportunity to be a part of what we are building here."