BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Birmingham-Southern College junior catcher/first baseman Bruce Maxwell became the latest Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) student-athlete selected in the Major League Baseball Draft when he was drafted by the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday. Exclusive Bruce Maxwell Post-Draft Interview
Maxwell was drafted in the second round as the 62nd overall selection (second selection overall in the second round). He becomes the highest draft selection in SCAC history and becomes the highest NCAA Division III draft selection since 2003 when Cal Lutheran's Justin Hirsh was drafted 59th overall.
He helped guide Birmingham-Southern to the program's first-ever SCAC championship and within a win of the Division III World Series. The Panthers finished 38-9 and posted the program's third consecutive 30-win season.
In 124 career games (all of them starts), Maxwell hit .430 with 38 home runs, 166 RBI's, 123 runs, 190 hits, 61 doubles and one triple. He also tallied a career .830 slugging percentage.
Maxwell becomes the SCAC's 11th MLB draft pick since 1987 and the second consecutive Birmingham-Southern student-athlete drafted. Last year, Maxwell's teammate Drew Leachman was drafted in the 37th round by the Minnestoa Twins.
Becoming a second round selection in the MLB Draft is the culmination to an incredibly successful 2012 season. Earler this year he was named the 2012 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings National Player of the Year, the organization announced last month.
Maxwell was also recently named D3baseball.com National and South Region Player of the Year, as well as SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year at the end of the regular season.
Maxwell, who has also earned D3baseball.com First-Team All-America and First-Team All-South honors, helped guide the Panthers to their first-ever SCAC baseball championship and a berth in the NCAA Division III Central Regional.
The junior from Toney, Ala., led the SCAC with a .471 batting average (7th-best in SCAC single-season) and also led the league in homeruns (15), doubles (25), runs scored (56), total bases (142), slugging percentage (.928), on-base percentage (.619) and walks (59 - new SCAC single-season record). He was fourth in runs batted in (48) and second in hits (72).
In addition to being named a national, regional, and conference
player of the year, Maxwell was also named All-SCAC First Team as
well as SCAC All-Tournament. He was also named the SCAC Hitter of
the Week twice during the regular season and National Hitter of the
Week once.
Maxwell becomes just the second Southern Collegiate Athletic
Conference (SCAC) baseball student-athlete to earn national player
of the year honors in the league's history, which dates back to
1962. He joins Southwestern University's Matt Gelotti, who earned
ABCA Division III Player of the Year honors in 2000.
Click here to listen to the SCAC's exclusive post-draft interview with Bruce Maxwell, click here.
| SCAC Major Leaue Baseball Draft Picks (Since 1987) | ||||
| Player | School | Round | Team | Year |
| Peter Austin | Millsaps | 40th (#1202 overall) | Pittsburgh | 1997 |
| Matt Blanton | Hendrix | 23rd (#695 overall) | St. Louis | 2003 |
| Jason Armstrong | Trinity (Texas) | 25th (#747 overall) | Toronto | 2004 |
| Garner Wetzel | Millsaps | 10th (#297 overall) | Colorado | 2005 |
| Garner Wetzel | Millsaps | 18th (#543 overall) | San Diego | 2006 |
| Nick Vera | Trinity (Texas) | 32nd (#981 overall) | St. Louis | 2007 |
| Evan Bronson | Trinity (Texas) | 36th (#1,088 overall) | Milwaukee | 2008 |
| Evan Bronson | Trinity (Texas) | 29th (#862 overall) | Washington | 2009 |
| Daniel Sarisky | Oglethorpe | 40th (#1,211 overall) | Houston | 2009 |
| Drew Leachman | Birmingham-Southern | 37th (#1,138 overall) | Minnesota | 2011 |
| Bruce Maxwell | Birmingham-Southern | 2nd (#62 overall) | Oakland | 2012 |
