UC Santa Barbara
2017: UCSB's opening day catcher, he was named to the 2017 Johnny Bench Award Watch List, the award given out annually to college baseball's top backstop ... Ended the year with a .280/.333/.448 slash line over 38 games, 35 of those starts ... Added a career-high four home runs, nine doubles, and 17 RBIs over 125 at-bats ... Threw out 10 of 27 would-be basestealers (37%) ... Made just three errors on the season for a .989 fielding percentage ... Missed 10 games in February after pulling a muscle in his side on Opening Day ... Had six multi-hit games ... Had a nine-game hit streak from Apr. 28 to May 13 ... Had a team-best .500 on-base percentage in plate appearances where he led off an inning ... Tore the cover off the ball in April, batting .306 with a .612 slugging percentage, three home runs, and eight RBIs ... Best performance of the year came on Apr. 30 at UC Riverside, as he had a season-high three hits, scored three times, and clubbed a solo home run in an eventual 6-5 win ... Closed the year by having a hit in 18 of his final 21 starts.
2016: UCSB's starting catcher, Grover appeared in a career-high 57 games as a redshirt sophomore, starting all but one of those ... Slashed .273/.386/.381 over 194 at-bats with 16 extra-base hits (13 doubles, one triple, two home runs), 29 RBIs, 33 walks, and 47 strikeouts ... Was 6-6 on stolen base attempts ... Batted .154 (4-26) in the postseason, started every game behind the dish ... Started a dozen games as the DH over the season ... Was 2-10 in the College World Series, scoring a run in UCSB's 5-3 win over Miami on Jun. 20 ... Went 1-6 in the Louisville Super Regional ... Worked a walk as part of the decisive ninth-inning rally in game two against the Cardinals, helping set up Sam Cohen's walk-off grand slam ... Had one hit in 10 at-bats in the Nashville Regional, a double ... Was one of UCSB's hottest hitters early on in the year, batting .410 in February and March ... Struggled in conference play, hitting .177 ... Had 16 multi-hit games, tied for second-most on the team ... Had a 14-game reached base streak from Mar. 5 to Apr. 2, third-longest streak by a Gaucho that season ... Hit .304 against right-handed pitchers ... Threw out 40% of attempted basestealers (17-42) ... Team was 30-13 when he started behind the dish ... Hit home runs in back-to-back games against Hawaii on Apr. 29 and 30 ... Went 2-3 with two doubles and two walks against Hartford on Mar. 13 ... Played summer ball with the Menlo Park Legends of the California Collegiate League ... Batted .314 with seven extra-base hits in 51 at-bats over 14 games with the CCL club.
2015: Appeared in 17 games as a redshirt freshman, starting four contests as the DH ... Had a pair of singles in 21 at-bats ... Scored one run and had three RBIs ... Team went 3-1 in his starts ... Had his first hit of the year in a 7-5 loss to UT-Arlington on Mar. 15 ... Went 1-5 in a Apr. 4 contest against Fresno State, including a two-run single in the eighth inning ... Scored the game-winning run against Wichita State on Mar. 15 ... Made an appearance in the Lake Elsinore Regional hosted by UC Santa Barbara, going 0-2 against USC ... Over summer, played 26 games for the Rochester Honkers of the Northwoods League ... Had a .237 batting average with 14 RBIs.
2014: Named the No. 65 freshman prospect by Perfect Game entering the season ... Made 12 appearances on the year, including five starts – all at catcher ... Team was an undefeated 5-0 in his starts ... Had a .238/360/.286 slash line to go with five hits, five runs, one double, three RBIs, three walks, and three strikeouts in 21 at-bats ... Knocked a single in his only pinch-hit AB of the season ... Scored the game-tying run in an eventual 2-1 walk-off win over Pepperdine on Mar. 11 ... Was granted a medical redshirt, as he didn't appear after Mar. 23.
High School: Earned four letters at Beyer High School under coach Domine Duran ... Caught and played third base for the Patriots ... Finished his career record with school records in triples and walks, while ranking second all-time at Beyer in doubles and runs ... Hit .433 with 23 RBIs, 15 extra-base hits, 27 runs, and eight stolen bases as a senior, earning team and league MVP honors ... Hit .380 as a junior with 29 runs scored and 15 stolen bases, making All-League, All-State, and All-District teams ... Batted .325 and swiped 17 bags as a sophomore, earning All-League honors ... Hit .295 and scored 16 runs en route to a League Championship his freshman year ... Made the postseason in all four of his seasons ... Also competed in basketball, including a Team MVP award as a tenth-grader, before focusing on baseball ... Was an Academic All-League recipient, finishing high school with a 3.75 GPA.
Personal: Born Jan. 31, 1995 in Modesto, Calif. ... Parents are Will and Karla Grover ... Has one younger sister, Ella ... Plans on majoring in political science at UCSB ... Aspires to go to law school ... Roots for the San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors ... Calls going to Omaha and the 2016 College World Series his favorite sporting moment ... Good Will Hunting and Old School are his favorite movies ... Lee Child is his top writer ... Listens to Slightly Stoopid, Fortunate Youth, and Needtobreathe ... In his free time, likes to go to the beach, play cards, and play MLB The Show ... Cites Steph Curry and Buster Posey as his favorite athletes ... Enjoys watching Narcos and Breaking Bad.
