7  Ryan Klosterman Position: Assistant Coach Experience: Second season at UCF Alma Mater: Vanderbilt, 2004

Contact Ryan:
Email - rklosterman@athletics.ucf.edu
Phone - 407-823-4320
Twitter: @Coach_Klosty

In his first year as a member of the UCF baseball coaching staff, Ryan Klosterman helped guide UCF to its best season in eight years. He is in charge of the Knights' infielders and team defense and also assists with offense and recruiting.

Infielders D.J. Hicks, Travis Shreve, Darnell Sweeney and Chris Taladay all had strong 2012 campaigns with the help of Klosterman. The Knights registered a .972 fielding percentage, the second-highest mark at UCF since 2001. Working with Hicks during his first full year at first base, Klosterman's guidance saw the All-C-USA First Teamer commit just two errors in 62 games while notching 537 putouts and 31 assists.

Robust 2012 campaigns led both Hicks and Sweeney, members of the Coral Gables All-Regional Team, to professional careers after their junior seasons. Manning shortstop in all but one game this year, Sweeney was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 13th round while Hicks was drafted by Minnesota in the 17th.

Prior to his coaching days in Orlando, Klosterman was picked by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth round of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft. He spent the last eight years until coming to UCF playing professional baseball, most recently at the Triple-A level for the New Orleans Zephyrs of the Florida Marlins Organization.

Klosterman was a standout infielder at South Lake High School before going on to a successful collegiate career as an infielder at both Clemson and Vanderbilt from 2001-04.

In his junior season with the Commodores, Klosterman was named to the All-Southeast Conference First Team as a shortstop, while also being voted as the team's Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year. In addition to his success on the field, Klosterman was also honored with a spot on the 2004 Verizon Academic All-District IV Second Team and was a member of the Dean's List and the Student-Athlete Honor Roll.

That same year, Klosterman helped lead the Commodores to the NCAA Super Regional in Austin after batting .346 with 91 hits, 72 runs scored and eight triples. Klosterman's eight triples remain a Vanderbilt single-season record.

Klosterman graduated from Vanderbilt in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in human and organizational development with an emphasis in leadership and organizational effectiveness.