Jeff Stofko held the school record for career home runs and hits after four years with the baseball program from 1984-87.
He set the school record for homers with 22, six more than the previous career mark. His number stood as the home-run standard for 13 years before begin topped.
Stofko also established a new school record for career hits with 162. He eclipsed the mark of 157 that was set in the early 1980’s by Dennis Krancevich.
During his career, Stofko played first base and third base for the program. He was a career .309 hitter with 162 hits in 524 at bats. In 163 games, he had 106 RBI, scored 91 runs, had 26 doubles and 56 walks. He played third base his first three years and was at first for part of his sophomore campaign and his entire senior season.
During his senior year in 1987, he and Vic Kuchmaner tied for the school single-year homer mark each blasting nine. That mark stood until 1994.
As a senior, Stofko hit .279 in 41 games to earn first-team All-OVC Northern Division honors. He had 36 hits in 129 at bats, drove in 32 runs, scored 28 times and had five doubles. He hit two homers against Morehead State on April 19 and homered in three straight games - Akron, Allegheny, Eastern Kentucky.
He had a career-high five RBI against Allegheny. At that point in the program’s history, he was just the fifth player in school history to drove in at least five runs in a game.
As a junior, Stofko played in 42 games. He had 43 hits in 135 at bats for a .319 batting average. He scored 27 runs, had 25 RBI, walked 12 times and had seven doubles. He had two triples in one game (Cleveland State) which tied the school record.
He had a tremendous year as a sophomore compiling 56 hits and a career-best .392 batting average and a .636 slugging percentage. His 56 hits were the second most in a season in school history.
For the year, he had 42 RBI, 28 runs scored, 11 doubles and eight home runs in 44 games. His eight homers were the most by a Penguin since 1976. He had an on-base percentage of .442 and 91 total bases.
As a freshman, he had 27 hits in 117 at bats for a .231 average. He finished with eight runs scored, seven RBI, three doubles and a homer in 36 games.
Stofko graduated from Ursuline High School where he was an All-Steel Valley selection. Growing up he played in the 1977 Little League World Series.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State in Business Administration in 1988. He is an area sales manager for Litetronics, a commercial and industrial lighting company.
Jeff and his wife, Rhonda, have three children, Corey, Molly and Bobby. The family resides in Alsip, Ill.
