Aaron Whitley

Aaron Whitley prepares to step to the plate for an at-bat against Fairfield

Aaron Whitley runs towards third base in the first game of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament

Aaron Whitley makes the catch in the outfield

The baseball team catches Aaron Whitley in celebration of a home run

©2024 Pixel Factory Creative Studio, Inc.

Position:
Outfielder
Height:
5-11
Weight:
185
Class:
Graduate Student
Hometown:
Niskayuna, NY
High School:
Niskayuna

Awards
2024 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year
2024 Atlantic 10 Player of the Week (4/15)

2024

Finished the year batting .367 with 58 hits, 12 doubles and 10 home runs, 26 RBI, 19 walks and 14 hit by pitch, slugging .500 with an .474 on base percentage
Battled an early injury, making 42 starts in centerfield, did not make any defensive errors in 115 chances
Collected 16 multi-hit games, the team's second-longest hitting streak at 12, and third longest reached base streak at 13 games
Made Spider debut against Mount St. Mary's (2/24) going 2-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and scored twice
Hit first home run of the season against Sacred Heart (3/2) to give the Spiders the lead in the seventh
Tallied a two-home run game against George Mason (3/30), led off the game with a solo shot then added a second solo home run in the sixth to jump start the Spiders comeback victory
Led off James Madison (4/10) with a home run on the first pitch of the contest
Had a 4-for-5 day against GW (4/12) a triple shy of the cycle, with two doubles a home run, three RBI and three runs scored
Named A-10 Player of the Week (4/15) after going .526 with 10 hits, including five for extra bases, five RBI and seven runs scored. He collected three stolen bases in four attempts, reached base three times via hit by pitch and struck out once against GW and JMU
Tallied a 4-for-7 day against Rhode Island (5/11) with two doubles and four runs scored

At Rochester:
2023: Finished the year as Rochester's top hitter, appearing in and starting all 42 contests...Earned ABCA Third-Team All-Region honors and was named First-Team All-Liberty League...Named to ABCA Region 3 All-Defensive Team...Batted a team-high .377 (63-for-167) with 12 doubles, three triples, five home runs, a team-high 51 runs scored and 25 RBI...Also drew 18 walks and six hit-by-pitches and struck out 13 times for a .448 on-base percentage...Hit three sacrifice flies and dropped down five sacrifice bunts...Had a team-best .587 slugging percentage...Stole 23 bases in 25 attempts...Hit .444/.489/.654 in conference play...Recorded 19 multi-hit games, including three four-hit performances...Drove in multiple runs four times...Ended the year on a 10-game hitting streak...Finished third in the Liberty League in hits, runs scored and stolen bases, fifth in triples and sixth in at-bats...Tied for the second-most hits in a seaon in program history, as well as the third-most at-bats and runs, tied for the fourth-most total bases and the ninth-most steals...Tied for the second-most homers in a single game in program history hitting two home runs twice vs. Oswego State on April 12 and Bard on May 6...Also tied for the third-most total bases in a single game vs. the Raptors on May 6.

2022: Another solid season during junior campaign, ending in ABCA 2nd Team All-Region 3 honors...1st Team All-Liberty League for the second straight year...Appeared in 41 games (41 starts) for Rochester, ending the year with a .347 average (50-144) with 7 doubles, 3 triples, 5 home runs, 44 runs and 21 RBI...Slugged .542 with 78 total bases and added 19 walks and 21 hit by pitches for a .481 on-base percentage...Was 24-for-30 on stolen base attempts and chipped in three sacrifice flies and three sacrifice hits...Perfect defensively with 83 putouts and 2 assists in the outfield...Led team in hits, runs, steals and HBP...Ranked 13th in Division III in times hit by a pitch, tying the UR single-season record...Was also 23rd nationally in HBP/game (0.51) and 34th in toughest to strikeout (1 in every 18 AB)...Led the Liberty League in steals, HBP and fielding percentage (1.000) and was 4th in runs, 7th in hits, 8th in triples and 10th in on-base percentage...Led team with 18 multi-hit games and a 21-game reached base streak...Named to D3baseball.com Team of the Week on Apr. 6, earning Liberty League Player of the Week honors the same week...1st Team Preseason All-American by D3baseball.com...Collegiate Baseball News Preseason Player to Watch in Division III...Went 4-for-5 with a run and SB in UR's NCAA Regional contest against Middlebury on May 20...Hit for the cycle in a 4-for-5 game against St. Lawrence on Apr. 15, being the third UR player in 2022 to accomplish the feat...Was 3-for-3 with a double, 2 walks, 2 steals and a career-high 4 runs against Ursinus on Mar. 9.

2021: The sophomore had one of the best seasons in Rochester baseball history, being named a 2nd Team All-American by both the ABCA and D3baseball.com, becoming just the third All-American in program history...1st Team All-Region in both ABCA and D3baseball.com New York Region and honored with Liberty League Player of the Year accolades...1st Team All-Liberty League and Liberty League Tournament Most Outstanding Performer...2-time D3baseball.com Team of the Week performer and was honored by the Liberty League twice...Combined to appear in 32 games, making 31 starts for Rochester...Finished the season with a .475 batting average (2nd in UR history) going 56-118 at the plate...Added 48 runs scored, 19 doubles, 5 triples, 5 home runs and 34 RBI...Was 28-30 in stolen base attempts, was hit by a pitch 17 times and drew an additional 14 walks...On-base percentage of .572 and slugging percentage of .847...Was top-30 in NCAA Division III in several categories, including stolen bases (9th), doubles per game (10th, 0.59), total doubles (11th), stolen bases per game (11th, 0.88), average (13th), slugging (15th), on-base percentage (15th), runs per game (15th, 1.50), hit by pitches (15th) and triples (28th)...Led the Liberty League in eight statistical categories, including average, runs, hits, doubles and stolen bases...Set new UR single-season doubles record, also ranked 2nd in Rochester season history in average, slugging and HBP...Had 20 games with multiple hits, including a season-high 5 hits against St. Lawrence on May 1, tying the UR single-game record...Finished SLU game with 5-for-6 batting line with 6 RBI, 2 doubles, 2 runs and 2 steals...Was hit by three pitches against St. John Fisher on Mar. 25, also tying UR single-game best...Had pinch-hit, walk-off sacrifice fly to beat Alfred State on Apr. 7...Reached base safely in 24 straight games to end the season, also logged a hit in nine straight to close 2021, eight of which were multi-hit games...Combined to go 5-for-8 in UR's two NCAA Tournament games with 3 runs, 1 double, 1 home run and 1 RBI...Was 7-for-11 with 5 runs, 1 RBI, 3 doubles and 2 stolen bases in Liberty League Tournament, helping Rochester to its second straight league title.

2020: First-year player appeared three times for the Yellowjackets...Made two starts and turned in multi-hit performances in each game, going 2-for-5 at Pomona-Pitzer on Mar. 8 and 2-for-4 at Occidental on Mar. 11...Finished the year 4-11 (.364) with one run scored...4-for-4 in fielding chances in the outfield.

HS: Lettered in football and baseball for the Silver Warriors of Niskayuna HS...Played wide receiver and defensive back for the football team, patrolled the outfield on the baseball diamond...Football co-captain as a senior...Was baseball team Offensive Player of the Year in 2019...Times Union 1st Team Large School honors as a wide receiver, also earning a spot on the Senior Bowl team...Suburban Council Division 1st Team All-Star and Times Union 1st Team Large School outfielder in baseball as a senior...Member of the Warrior Project.