Baseball’s Jimmy Murphy Drafted by Baltimore in 2017 MLB Draft

New York, N.Y. - Fordham University pitcher Jimmy Murphy (South Orange, N.J./Columbia) joined an exclusive group of Ram baseball players on Tuesday, as he became the 35th Ram to be taken in the MLB Draft.  He was selected in the eighth round of the 2017 MLB Draft (Pick #248) by the Baltimore Orioles.
 
Murphy's selection marks the third straight season that Fordham has had a player's name called during the MLB Draft.  The Rams had two draftees in both the 2015 (Brett Kennedy and Charles Galiano) and 2016 (Greg Weissert and Joseph Serrapica) MLB Draft.  He is also the fourth player from the same recruiting class to be drafted out of Fordham, as Murphy, Kennedy, Galiano, and Serrapica all came to Rose Hill as freshmen for the 2013 season.
 
Murphy is the highest-drafted Ram since Cory Riordan went in the sixth round of the 2007 draft to the Colorado Rockies, and is the second Ram to ever be drafted by the Baltimore Orioles, joining Fordham Athletics Hall of Famer Pete Harnisch, who was a first round pick in 1987.  He is also the second Atlantic 10 player selected this year, as Deon Stafford, Jr. of Saint Joseph's was selected in the fifth round by Pittsburgh.

Murphy had an outstanding final season in 2017, becoming the first Ram to receive First Team All-Atlantic 10 honors since Galiano in 2015, and the first pitcher to do so since Tom Davis in 2008.  A two-time Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week this season, he tied for the team lead in wins with a career-high six, while pitching a career-high 93.2 innings with 85 strikeouts.  He finished second in the league in strikeouts, behind teammate Reiss Knehr, at the end of the regular season.

Murphy was stingier in conference action, posting a 2.00 ERA in eight starts with four wins, three complete games, a .216 opponent batting average, and 52 strikeouts in 63.0 innings.  His best performance came in his final start, outdueling Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year Aaron Phillips (9^th round selection by San Francisco), with a complete game five-hitter to hand Phillips his only loss of the season.
 
In the career record book, Murphy ended his career seventh in career appearances (71), 11^th in games started (32), 11^th in innings pitched (245.0), and 11^th in strikeouts (191).