Illinois State exceeded its fundraising goal for the St. Baldrick's Foundation by $1,895.
Bo Durkac returns to Illinois State in 2013 for his fourth season on Mark Kingston's coaching staff. At the completion of the 2012 season, Durkac was elevated to associate head coach. His responsibilities include spearheading recruiting, as well as working with ISU hitters and infielders. Durkac's experience includes seven seasons as the hitting coach at Charlotte and seven years of professional playing spanning the globe.
Under Durkac's guidance, the 2012 Illinois State offense was one of the most potent in NCAA Division I baseball. The offense averaged 6.9 runs-per-game, good for 12th nationally, and led the led the Missouri Valley Conference in batting average (.297), on-base percentage (.386) while finishing second in slugging percentage (.426).
Durkac helped the 2011 Redbirds win a program-record 36 games, while hitting .271 with a Missouri Valley Conference-high .409 slugging percentage and a .385 on-base percentage. ISU also hit 39 home runs, which ranked second in the league. In his first season at Illinois State, Durkac oversaw a 2010 Redbirds team that hit .293, as ISU won its first-ever MVC regular-season title and its first State Farm MVC Tournament championship since 1994.
At Charlotte, Durkac served as the hitting instructor, infield/outfield defensive instructor and recruiting coordinator. Durkac led Charlotte to steady offensive increases each season, including a school-record .333 batting average in 2008. The Niners produced a top-50 batting average in the nation in 2009 by hitting .322, one year after the school's record mark was 11th-best in the country. Durkac coached or recruited 36 all-conference selections, three All-Americans and three freshman All-America selections and helped the team to a 235-150-1 (.608) overall record.
In 2008, the Niners collected their second-highest hit total in a single season with 720, giving the team over 700 hits in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history. Charlotte hit over 100 doubles during the 2009 season, tying the school record at six straight seasons over the century mark set from 1995-2000. In 2007, the 49ers set the team record for triples in a season (33) and saw an increase in hits, runs, RBI and home runs. The 2007 squad played the best defense in school history with a.966 fielding percentage, a mark that was repeated in 2008.
Durkac finished his professional baseball career with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League in 2001 after playing for Sonoma County in the Western Baseball League that summer and with the Taichung Agan in the Taiwan Major Leagues during the spring. Before playing in Taiwan, he played three seasons in the Western Baseball League for the Chico Heat and was named a Western League All-Star in 1999. That fall, he played for Team USA in the XIV International Cup in Sydney, Australia.
Durkac spent the 1996 and 1997 in affiliated Minor League Baseball. In 1996, he hit .298/.393.397 for the Visilia Oaks, a Detroit Tigers affiliation, in the class a-advanced California League. He spent the 1997 season with the High Desert Mavericks, the California League team for the then-expansion Arizona Diamondbacks, and batted .282/.361/.398.
In 1995, he split his first pro season between the independent Adirondack Lumberjacks in the Northeast League and the Will County Claws of the North Central League, before earning an affiliated contract.
Prior to his professional career, Durkac was a two-time All-Metro Conference third baseman at Virginia Tech. During his three seasons with the Hokies, he hit .360 with a school-record 60 doubles. He was an ironman, playing all but two innings in his final two collegiate seasons. In 1993, he was the Metro Conference Newcomer of the Year as he led the conference in hitting at .423. He played his freshman season at North Carolina along with current Illinois State head coach Mark Kingston.
The Kittanning, Pa., native graduated with a liberal arts and sciences degree from Virginia Tech in 1995. He has authored two books on baseball: "2001: A Baseball Odyssey" and "How to Become a Professional Baseball Player." He also contributed a semimonthly column on Baseball America's website for two years.
Durkac is married to the former Heather Hammond of Cuba, Ill. The couple resides in Normal.
