NEW YORK - For the first time since 2000 and just the ninth time in the 50-year history of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, two Bradley Baseball players were selected in the first 20 rounds of the draft Wednesday.
Junior pitcher Elliot Ashbeck (Marshfield, Wis./Marshfield H.S.) was selected in the 16th round by the San Diego Padres and junior second baseman Chris Godinez (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest H.S.) was picked in the 18th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ashbeck and Godinez became the 70th and 71st Braves selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft and the first duo to both be selected inside the first 20 rounds since 2000 when pitchers Steve Ellis were selected in the 12th round by the Oakland Athletics and David Hoffman in the 19th round by the Philadelphia Phillies, respectively.
Ashbeck and Godinez both have one year of college eligibility remaining and have through Aug. 15 to negotiate with their drafting clubs before deciding whether or not to return for their senior season.
Ashbeck, who graduated in May with his degree in business management and administration, was one of the final 10 candidates for the 2015 John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award. Currently tied for sixth nationally with 11 pitching wins, Ashbeck became just the third pitcher in Bradley history to win more than 10 games in a single season this spring. The right-hander also set the Bradley single-season record by making 17 pitching starts in 2015, finishing 11-5 with a 3.55 ERA. Ashbeck's 3.58 career earned run average is tied for the fifth-best career mark by a Bradley pitcher with at least 100.0 innings pitched since the introduction of metal bats in 1974.
The team's primary designated hitter when he wasn't pitching, Ashbeck hit .264 in his 37 games as a hitter, and finished second on the team with 13 doubles and 31 runs batted in.
The first-ever Bradley player selected by the Dodgers organization, Godinez finished the 2015 season on a tear, reaching base safely via a hit, walk or hit by pitch in the final 33 games. While batting .302 in his 48 games, Godinez set the single-season school record by drawing 46 walks and his 17 hit-by-pitches were the fourth-best single-season total in Bradley history. With eight teams still alive in the College World Series, Godinez likely will finish the season ranked fourth nationally with his .505 on-base percentage. Among Bradley's career records, Godinez is tied for third with 33 hit-by-pitches, tied for 10th with 86 career walks and tied for 10th with 44 stolen bases.
Aided by the efforts of Ashbeck and Godinez, Bradley enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2015, finishing the year with a 36-21 overall record, reaching the MVC Baseball Championship title game and playing in the NCAA Baseball Championship for the first time since 1968. Bradley's 9-4 win against Morehead State May 30 in the Louisville Regional was the program's first postseason victory since the 1956 College World Series.
Ashbeck and Godinez could join a quartet of former Braves currently playing professional baseball:
Rob Scahill (Bradley 2006-09) | RHP | Pittsburgh Pirates
A fourth-year Major League Baseball veteran in his first season with the Pirates, Scahill twice was drafted during his Bradley career, in the 48th round by the New York Yankees in 2008 and the eighth round by the Colorado Rockies in 2009. After pitching parts of the last three seasons at the MLB level with the Rockies, Scahill was traded to Pittsburgh during the offseason and began the 2015 campaign on the Pirates opening-day roster. For the season, Scahill is 1-3 with a 1.71 ERA in 19 appearances for the Pirates. His most-recent appearance was June 8 versus Milwaukee, when he struck out three in 1.1 scoreless innings.
Jason Leblebijian (Bradley 2010-12) | IF | Lansing Lugnuts | Toronto Blue Jays Class A Midwest League
A 25th-round pick by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2012, Leblebijian began his fourth pro season with the Dunedin Blue Jays in the Advanced A Florida State League. Since being re-assigned to the Lugnuts June 4, however, Leblebijian has been on a tear. Including two home runs against the Peoria Chiefs Sunday and Monday, Leblebijian is batting .412 in his first five games with Lansing. He was 1-for-3 with two walks, a stolen base and two runs scored in Wednesday's 12-5 win at Quad Cities.
Max Murphy (Bradley 2012-14) | OF | Cedar Rapids Kernels | Minnesota Twins Class A Midwest League
A ninth-round selection by the Minnesota Twins in 2014, Murphy was the 2014 Player of the Year in the Rookie Appalachian League and led the entire Twins farm system last summer with a .556 slugging percentage and .958 OPS. Murphy, who saw his 2015 batting average drop to .230 following a 6-game hitless streak, broke the drought with a 3-for-4 performance Saturday at West Michigan, but he has not played in the last two games since going 0-for-2 with a walk and stolen base in Sunday's game against the White Caps.
Mike Tauchman (Bradley 2010-13) | OF | New Britain Rock Cats | Colorado Rockies Double-A Eastern League
A 10th-round pick by the Colorado Rockies in 2013 after leading the nation in batting, Tauchman has started his third pro season with the Rockies Double-A affiliate. Tauchman has doubled in each of the last two games and is batting .261 as New Britain's primary leadoff hitter so far this season, helping the Rock Cats to the top of the Eastern League Eastern Division standings. The Rock Cats (35-23) have a 1.5 game lead on Trenton (New York Yankees) in the Eastern Division.
