By Media Services Intern William Lee
Nevada first baseman Shaun Kort's illustrious career has been nothing short of spectacular. In his first year at Nevada, Kort was named to the Louisville Slugger, Rivals.com, Jewish Sport Review and Pingbaseball.com All-America teams, and earned the 2007 WAC Freshman of the Year award, hitting .392 to claim the WAC batting title. A career .353 hitter, Kort has been named WAC Hitter of the Week three times in his career, boasts an impressive career .993 fielding percentage and recently became Nevada's all-time career leader in games played and doubles, passing Matt Maguire (1999-2002) in games played and former teammate Matt Bowman (2005-2009) in doubles.
Shaun Kort and Matt Bowman were teammates for three years, and while his doubles record lasted for less than a season, Bowman was pleased to see Kort succeed in becoming the new record holder.
"I went out to dinner with Matt the night I broke the (doubles) record, and he congratulated me," Shaun Kort said. "I'm just happy to be on the same list with him... I looked up to him all the years I played with him and he's probably the best teammate I've ever had. I really respect him."
Since his freshman season, Kort has started 224 of his 227 games played at first base, making him the all-time leader in games played at Nevada. While many Wolf Pack fans know Kort mostly for his hitting ability and excellent defense at first base, Kort began his career thinking he would do more pitching than anything.
"When I first got here it looked like I was going to be more of a pitcher than a hitter," Shaun Kort said. "In the fall I was pitching really good and I wasn't really hitting that well, then in my first relief appearance I ended up taking the loss. So Coach Powers called me in his office one day and told me be ready for an opportunity if it comes. Then he unexpectedly pinch hit me in a crucial spot, it was something like 2-2 in the eighth, and with two guys on I hit a home run and after that I think he wanted me to hit."
The pinch-hit homerun came in Kort's first collegiate at-bat.
Since then, Kort has continued to climb the career charts at Nevada. In addition to his games played and doubles records, Kort ranks second in career at-bats (847), seventh in runs scored (180), third in hits (299), third in RBI (224), second in base on balls (126), and his .353 career batting average is just shy of the top ten Nevada averages of all time. Kort's career numbers of at-bats, hits, doubles and RBI each rank in the top 15 all-time for the Western Athletic Conference as well.
At this point in the season, it is likely Kort will move up the ranks in other Nevada's statistic categories. He is only one hit shy of his 300th hit, and 17 at-bats from being the all-time leader in at-bats. While breaking records is an accomplishment not to be ignored, Kort insists he is remaining focused on team accomplishments rather than his own.
"Making the NCAA Regional would be cooler than any award since I haven't done that yet," Kort said. "It'll be special after the season is over when I can look back on the records, but now I'm focused now on making the Regional more than anything."
When Kort's career at Nevada ends, he hopes to stay around the game of baseball for years to come.
"Baseball is definitely an option after I graduate, but I'm excited to see what's out there for me," Kort said. "I'll always have a love for baseball whether it's playing or coaching, and it would be my dream job to be a head coach of a college."
Kort will earn his degree in Health Sciences when he graduates from the University of Nevada next spring.
