Austin Kightlinger '27 Recruiting Profile

I feel like learning from past mistakes on and off the field has shaped me into the person I am today. Finding Jesus, overcoming obstacles, and growing closer to my family are things that have come from these mistakes and made me a better and stronger person than I was.

I became interested in playing baseball when I was 5 years old. My dad and I used to get to practice early to take extra reps. My dad has helped me play and understand the game ever since I was able to talk. We would watch games when I was young, and he would teach me about what would happen in games, and ask that if I was in that situation what would I have done? He has always helped me understand the rules and practical side of the sport.

Through playing baseball and football, I have learned good communication skills, teamwork, hard work, grit, and pain.

My academic goals are to have all A’s so that I can have a great GPA.  In college, I want to strive to be the best student athlete I can be, by focusing on maintaining a high GPA, having a good relationship with my professors, and having great relationships with my friends and teammates.

I have had to overcome many obstacles, including figuring out where I fit in at a new school, learning to push through slumps with hitting, pushing through injuries and the mental aspect of returning to play at the level I was before the injury. I have learned that in life we all face many obstacles, but it is how we overcome those that sets us apart from others.

I feel like I am pretty athletic. I like to play baseball and football. I am very competitive and like to push myself and my teammates to be better than we were the previous day. I love to play video games with my friends. I also enjoy the outdoors, playing with my dogs, boating, tubing, and finding new places to explore. I also enjoy attending activities and conferences with my church's youth group. My dad was a baseball player for ODU and my mom was an NCAA National Champion gymnast for the University of Alabama. I would love to follow in my parent's footsteps and pursue my baseball career to the highest level possible.