SAMMAMISH, Wash. --- Biola Baseball has added NCAA DI transfer Ben Smith to its roster ahead of Head Coach Jeff Calhoon's first season with the program this spring. Smith is a catcher who played two years at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, where he played under Biola assistant coach, CJ Baker. 

After playing in 17 games as a freshman with the Bison, Smith started the 2019 season as one of Bucknell's primary starting options behind the plate. He started 22 of Bucknell's first 28 games as a sophomore before suffering a hand injury and now comes to Biola with a reputation as a solid defender and leader.

Smith made just four errors in almost 200 chances at Bucknell and participated in the Bucknell Leadership Institute, which is an interactive leadership development program that trained student-athletes to apply effective leadership principles in real-life situations. He also helped the Sourvis Valley Sabre Dogs reach the Lewis Divisional Playoff in the Expedition League in 2018, blasting a two-run homerun in the playoff game while hitting .264 with 26 walks and 18 RBI's over the summer.

Smith played in the West Coast League for the Kelowna Falcons in a brief stint this past summer, making just three errors behind the plate in 104 innings played. 

"Ben brings experience from a quality Division I program and we are excited to bring his experiences into our program," said Coach Calhoon. "Ben has some high level tools that we are looking forward to working with. And I'm personally excited to get to work him into our defensive and offensive systems."

Before his enrollment at Bucknell, Smith played varsity baseball and basketball at Skyline High School in Washington, where he won a 4A State Baseball Championship as a junior and was a team captain on the basketball team. Smith had a winning record in both of his varsity baseball years at Skyline and is looking to return that type of excitement at the diamond day in and day out:  

"I chose to come to Biola because I believe that the players and coaches here have developed a winning culture and that's something I wanted to be a part of," said Smith.

Smith will start classes at Biola on January 13 and major in business administration. More information on the incoming class that will arrive at Biola in Fall 2020 can be found on the Committed Athletes page.