LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA (June 7, 2008) Five Baylor baseball student-athletes were selected in Friday’s second day of the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Junior shortstop Beamer Weems led the group, going to the San Diego Padres in the eighth round with the 255th overall pick. At least one Baylor player has been drafted every year since 1991, and 14 Baylor pitchers have been drafted in the last five years.
Four Baylor pitchers were selected. The Cincinnati Reds took two of those arms, drafting junior southpaw Mace Thurman in the 17th round with the 569th overall pick and senior right-hander Randall Linebaugh in the 37th round with the 1109th overall pick. Senior right-hander Tim Matthews was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 27th round with the 827th overall pick, and senior right-hander Nick Cassavechia was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 37th round with the 1123rd overall pick.
Weems, one of only two Baylor shortstops to earn all-conference honors three consecutive years, is a career .296 hitter with 24 home runs, 136 RBI, 41 doubles and 12 triples. Arguably the best defensive shortstop in Baylor history, Weems holds Baylor career and season (9, 2007) records for homers by a shortstop. Weems is the fifth Baylor player drafted as a shortstop in the first 10 rounds, joining Steve Macko (5th round, 1977), Jace Brewer (5th round, 2000), Trey Webb (5th round, 2003) and Kyle Reynolds (6th round, 2005).
Thurman posted a 3-1 record with a staff-low 3.18 ERA and two saves this season, his first at Baylor after spending two years at Waco’s McLennan Community College. He appeared in 20 games with one start. Thurman logged 42 strikeouts in 39.2 innings and held opponents to a .209 batting average.
Matthews spent three seasons at Baylor after beginning his collegiate career at UT Tyler. He was 13-9 in his Baylor career with a 4.89 ERA and four saves. Matthews appeared in 62 games with 20 starts and recorded 101 strikeouts in 162.0 innings. This season, he was 5-2 with a 4.91 ERA and two saves, and his 40-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranked as the second-best season average in Baylor history.
Linebaugh, the only four-time letterman on this year’s Baylor squad, appeared in 67 games with 27 starts in his Baylor career. He was 11-6 with a 5.01 ERA and one save. Linebaugh recorded 162 strikeouts in 206.2 innings. This season, he was 1-0 in 17 appearances with one start and one save.
Cassavechia finished his Baylor career second on the program’s career saves list with 24. With eight saves in 2006 and 11 saves in 2007, Cassavechia joined Zane Carlson as the only Baylor pitchers to record at least eight saves in consecutive seasons, and Cassavechia is the only Baylor pitcher to lead the team in saves in three consecutive seasons. He was 9-9 in his career with a 3.83 ERA in 80 appearances, all relief efforts. Cassavechia is tied for seventh all-time at Baylor in career appearances and ranks fourth in school history in relief appearances.
Additionally, two members of Baylor’s fall signing class also were drafted. Lucas Hileman, an outfielder from Anna-Jonesboro High School in Illinois, was selected in the 37th round by the Atlanta Braves with the 1120th overall pick. The San Francisco Giants used their 43rd-round pick, the 1374th overall, to draft Joey Hainsfurther, a shortstop from Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas. Hileman and Hainsfurther are due to join the Baylor program this fall.
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