Walkenbach attended Cornell, where he played baseball from 1995 to 1998. A shortstop, he was named All-Ivy League as a first-teamer in his freshman and sophomore seasons and a second-teamer in his junior and senior seasons.
Coaching career
Assistant positions
Walkenbach's coaching career began in the early 2000s, when he served as an assistant at Division III Emory from 2002 to 2003. His first Division I came as an assistant at Cornell from 2004 to 2005. In 2005, the Big Red won their first Gehrig Division title but lost to Harvard in the Ivy Championship Series.
Franklin & Marshall
His first head coaching job was at Division III Franklin & Marshall, where he coached from 2006 to 2008, replacing Brett Boretti, who had left to become the head coach at Columbia. In three seasons, the Diplomats had a 69-42 record under Walkenbach. They won the Centennial Conferenceregular season title in 2006 and 2007 and the Centennial Tournament in 2006. In the 2006 NCAA Tournament, the team went 1-2 in the Mid-Atlantic Regional. It beat Gwynedd Mercy in the opener, then lost to TCNJ and Montclair State and was eliminated. F&M's Ted Serro won the 2006 Centennial Pitcher of the Year award, and Gary Kruger was named the Player of the Year. Serro was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2006 MLB Draft.
Cornell
Ahead of the 2009 season, Walkenbach was hired as the head coach at Cornell. He replaced his old coach, Tom Ford, who was demoted to associate head coach. In 2009, Cornell shared the Gehrig Division title with Princeton. They defeated the Tigers in the divisional playoff game but lost to Dartmouth in the Ivy Championship Series. After losing records in conference in 2010 and 2011, Cornell won the Gehrig Division again in 2012. The Big Red went 29-14-1 in the regular season. Cornell hosted a rematch against Dartmouth in the Ivy Championship Series at Hoy Field. After splitting the first two games, Cornell won the decisive third game 3-1 in 11 innings on a Chris Cruz walk-off home run. It was Cornell's first Ivy League Title and gave them an automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Tournament. They went 0-2 at the Chapel Hill Regional, losing to host North Carolina 7-4 and second-seeded East Carolina 10-6. Between 2009 and 2015, Cornell had one major award winner and two draftees under Walkenbach. In 2011, the Boston Red Sox selected Jadd Schmeltzer in the 49th round. In 2012, pitcher Kellon Urbon was unanimously selected the Ivy League Rookie of the Year. In 2014, the Arizona Diamondbacks took pitcher Brent Jones in the fourth round of the draft.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Prior to the 2016 season, Walkenbach left Cornell to accept the head coaching position at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, a Division III program in his hometown.
Head coaching record
Below is a table of Walkenbach's yearly records as a collegiate head baseball coach.
Personal
Walkenbach's wife, Beth, also graduated from Cornell. She has served as a field hockey coach at Cornell, Franklin & Marshall, and Ithaca.
