Francis Marion University athletic officials have announced that former Patriot All-American golfer Gary Bennett and former left-handed pitcher Scotty Keefe will be the newest inductees into the FMU Athletic Hall of Fame on Jan. 29, 2000.
Keefe, a native of Pamplico, S.C., starred on the Patriot baseball team in 1988 and 1990-92, compiling a 26-8 career record with two saves and a 3.46 earned run average. The 5-11 southpaw struck out 243 batters in only 268 innings and recorded nine complete games, five shutouts, and two no-hitters. He helped lead the Patriots to a four-year combined record of 118-57, including the 1988 District Six championship, a No.14 national ranking and an appearance in that season's NAIA Area 7 Tournament championship game.
He earned a B.S. degree in sociology in 1992 and upon induction was the director of student affairs and athletic director at Carolina Academy in Lake City, S.C. In addition to those duties, he also taught a Bible course and coached boys' basketball and baseball. He was director of Region 2AA of the South Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (SCISAA).
He later went on to serve as athletic director, Dean of Men, and baseball coach at Florence Christian School (added in 2018).
Keefe is married to the former Stacie Evans and they are expecting their first child.
Keefe served as head coach of the 1996 Florence American Legion baseball team and was an assistant for the 1995 Dillon American Legion squad.
As a senior at FMU in 1992, he set school records for wins and best winning percentage with an 8-0 mark. He also ranked 15th in the NAIA and 16th in NCAA Division II in earned run average with a 1.84 ERA. A year earlier, he broke the team record for strikeouts with 81 in only 73.2 innings. That figure ranked him 20th in the nation (NAIA) in strikeouts per game.
He was twice named to the NAIA District Six All-District Team, including being selected as the district's "Player of the Year" in 1992, and three times he was voted to the Palmetto State Conference All-Conference Team, also earning "Player of the Year" honors in 1992. He was Francis Marion's most valuable player in 1991 and 1992.
As a freshman, he had the oddity of becoming only the second player in school history to strike out four batters in one inning during the ninth inning of an April 11 (1988) win over Morris College.
