CLAREMORE, Okla. – Former Rogers State baseball student-athlete Spencer Bivens recently signed a Minor League contract with the San Francisco Giants. 

"We are so excited for Spencer and extremely proud that he has earned this well-deserved opportunity," said RSU Head Coach Chris Klimas. "His journey of hard work, dedication, and perseverance has finally paid off, and his story should serve as an inspiration to anyone in the game with a dream. He will always have a bunch of fans in Claremore!" 

A native of State College, Pa., Bivens played two season on the Hill after transferring from Penn State. In his time in the red and navy, he logged a 15-9 record on the mound with a 3.21 ERA as well as 94 strikeouts in 157.0 innings. 

"I am so grateful for all of the coaches and teammates who helped me to this point in my career," said Bivens. "I am especially thankful for Coach Klimas who gave me a shot at RSU without ever seeing me pitch live before I got to campus. This has been an incredible journey to this point in my career. I hope that my journey can provide an example for current and future Hillcats as well as players at any level." 

After finishing his career at RSU and going undrafted, Bivens was unsure where his baseball career might go. Thanks to a tip from a junior college teammate, he got in contact with a professional baseball team in France in 2019. In the French League, the game are only played on weekends and each team has five or six international players on their roster with most coming from Latin countries. Bivens played in the league for six months before returning home due to the CoVID-19 Pandemic. 

Once he returned to the U.S., Bivens used some of his connections to earn a roster spot with the Washington Wild Things, a team based in Washington, Penn. in the Frontier League, an independent baseball league. After pitching well in his first two months with the team, the season was cancelled due to the pandemic. Luckily, one of his teammates, former major leaguer Brandon Phillips, invited him to come play with a team in another independent league in Kentucky to finish out the 2020 season. 

In early 2021, the Wild Things reached out and offered Bivens a contract. After making the Opening Day roster, he did not mesh well with the manager and was released shortly there after. However, the West Virginia Power of the Atlantic League contacted Bivens about coming to throw a few bullpen sessions. After completing the sessions, the Power management told him to stay in shape and to stay in touch. As he was driving back to Pittsburg, Pa. from West Virginia, the Power called and asked if he could turn around and be able to pitch in a game the next day. After playing for the Power as a relief pitcher for a month, he was traded to the Gastonia Honey Hunters, also of the Atlantic League. With Gastonia, Bivens earned a rotation spot during the 2021 season.  

After going through Spring Training with Gastonia in 2022, scouts began to take notice of Bivens. After only throwing seven total innings for the Honey Hunter to start the 2022 season, the San Francisco Giants called and offered him a minor league contract. Bivens began his time with the Giants going through the orientation process at their spring training facility in Arizona. He is currently assigned to the San Jose Giants, the Single-A Affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. So far in two outings out of the bullpen, Bivens has logged a 3.86 ERA in 2.1 innings pitched and has only allowed one earned run with two strikeouts.