Bradley junior outfielder Max Murphy (Robbinsdale, Minn./Robbindsale Cooper H.S.) has decided to forego his senior season and will begin his professional playing career after signing with his hometown Minnesota Twins organization. Selected in the ninth round of last week's Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, Murphy will report to the Twins spring training facility in Ft. Myers, Fla., Wednesday for evaluation before he is assigned to a team.

Murphy started 152 of Bradley's 154 games the past three seasons, finishing his career with a .293 batting average, 27 home runs and 114 runs batted in. A second-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection in 2014, Murphy's 27 career dingers are tied for sixth-most in Bradley history and his 12 home runs in this season were the most in a single season by a Brave since Matt Gecan clubbed 16 homers in 2001. Murphy's 114 career RBI's rank third all-time among three-year Braves, following Sean Watkins (146, 1993-95) and Jacob Schaffer (139, 1995-97).

When the Twins selected Murphy with the 260th overall pick in last week's MLB First-Year Player Draft, he became the 70th overall selection from Bradley and the sixth player selected in the first 10 rounds in the last nine years. Overall, Murphy is the 122nd Bradley Baseball player to sign with a Major League Baseball organization.

Minnesota Twins blogger Ted Schwerzler caught up with Murphy for his reaction to being drafted by his hometown team and has posted his interview on Puckett's Pond:  http://puckettspond.com/2014/06/11/minnesotas-max-murphy-2014-minnesota-twins-draftee/.  Ironically, Puckett's Pond is a reference to one-time Bradley Baseball star Kirby Puckett, who went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Minnesota Twins.

Bradley Athletics Mission
Provide every student-athlete the opportunity for both a distinctive education and a championship experience
Accountability | Courage | Diligence | Integrity | Respect