School record 5 baseball players selected in MLB draft

Catcher Sean Murphy was drafted by the Oakland A’s with the 83rd overall pick.

Five Wright State baseball players will continue their careers professionally aftering being selected in last weekend’s Major League Baseball draft.

The five players drafted are a new baseball program record, topping the previous mark of three players drafted in 2008.

The players drafted this year are:

• Junior catcher Sean Murphy was drafted in the third round by the Oakland Athletics.
• Senior pitcher Jesse Scholtens was picked in the ninth round by the San Diego Padres.
• Junior shortstop Mitchell Roman was selected in the 12th round by the Chicago White Sox.
• Senior pitcher Robby Sexton was drafted in the 14th round by the Boston Red Sox
• Senior center fielder Ryan Fucci went in the 25th round to the Seattle Mariners.

All five helped lead the baseball team to its second consecutive Horizon League tournament title, back-to-back NCAA Regional finals appearances and a program record 46 wins.

Murphy, who was selected by Oakland with the 83rd overall pick, hit .287 with six home runs, 34 RBI and 38 runs scored despite missing six weeks with a hand injury. He was a First Team All-League selection in 2015 and was named to the league’s All-Freshman Team in 2014. Murphy is the second-highest Wright State player ever drafted, behind pitcher Brian Anderson, who was selected third overall by the California Angels in 1993.

Pitcher Jesse Scholtens

Scholtens pitched the first perfect game in Wright State history on March 11 against the Dayton Flyers.

He was a First Team All-Horizon League honoree, leading the league in starts with 16 and in innings pitched with 109.2 while tying for the league lead in wins with a record of 10-1. He was a Second Team All-League selection in 2015.

Shortstop Mitchell Roman

Roman, who was named to the Second Team All-Horizon League in 2016, tied for the league lead in stolen bases with 26, to go along with a .336 batting average, 84 hits and 54 runs scored.

The previous season, Roman was a First Team All-League selection and was named to the Horizon League All-Tournament Team and to the NCAA Champaign Regional All-Tournament Team.

Pitcher Robby Sexton

Sexton returned from Tommy John surgery last season to accumulate a 7-3 record, a 3.15 ERA and 58 strikeouts.

He was named to the Horizon League All-Tournament Team as the winning pitcher against Milwaukee in the tournament finals. He also picked up a win over Western Michigan in the NCAA Regionals at Louisville, allowing three runs in 6.2 innings.

Center fielder Ryan Fucci

Fucci, a First Team All-Horizon League selection in 2016, hit .326 with a team-best 11 home runs, 64 RBI and 26 stolen bases. Fucci was named to the NCAA Louisville Regional All-Tournament Team, hitting .333 with a team-high five RBI in four games.