Hall of Fame
For three seasons from 1985-87, Rod Gross was an outstanding outfielder for the Shippensburg baseball team.
A two-time All-PSAC Eastern Division selection, Gross ended his career with 144 games played, a .358 batting average, 162 hits, 156 runs, 31 doubles, nine triples, 14 home runs and 73 RBIs. At the time of his graduation in 1987, his 156 runs was the school record.
As a senior in 1987, under head coach Bill Rickenbach, Gross set the school single-season records for at-bats (181), hits (77), runs (61) and total bases (132), leading the team to a then-school record 39 wins. He is also highly ranked in hits, runs and total bases, and batting average. Gross also hit 15 doubles, five triples and 10 home runs with 35 RBIs.
Also that year, Gross earned All-PSAC Eastern Division First Team honors, First Team All-Region and First Team All-American honors. He was named Most Valuable Player of the 1987 PSAC Baseball Championship in which Shippensburg won back-to-back conference titles and was also selected to the North Atlantic Region Championship All-Tournament Team in the team’s second-straight appearance.
As a junior, Gross received All-PSAC Eastern Division honors while hitting .316 with 55 runs and 22 RBIs in 1986. He did not play as a freshman in 1984, but hit .310 as a sophomore the following season.
Gross played two seasons for legendary coach and Shippensburg Hall of Famer Art Fairchild in 1985 and 1986 before playing his final season under Bill Rickenbach.
In addition to his many playing accomplishments, Gross graduated cum laude with a 3.54 grade point average while earning his bachelor of science degree in computer science. As a senior in 1987, he received Academic All-America Second Team honors and was selected as a PSAC Scholar-Athlete.
Since his graduation, Gross became employed with Tyco Electronics working as an SAP Analyst. On a personal level, he also became involved in the South Hanover Baseball Association as a girls softball coach while serving as an active member of the congregation at Zion Lutheran Church.
