A’s draft SNHU’s Walkinshaw

SECAUCUS, N.J. – The Oakland Athletics selected Southern New Hampshire University graduate student Jake Walkinshaw (Seymour, Conn.) in the 36^th round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft on Wednesday.

Walkinshaw becomes the 12^th player to be drafted out of SNHU, including the 11^th under head coach Scott Loiseau. He is the third Penmen to be picked by Oakland, with Junior Mendez(No. 491) and Jon Massad (No. 761) both going to the A’s in 2013.

Walkinshaw was chosen by the A’s with the 27^th pick of the 36^th round, going No. 1,094, overall. Walkinshaw is the first Penmen to go in the draft since Tim Viehoff (Seattle Mariners; No. 357), Justin Valdespina (Colorado Rockies; No. 440) and Manny Cruz (Cincinnati Reds; No. 678) were all taken in 2016.

Walkinshaw is coming off a stellar season that saw him collect Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) East All-Region First Team, American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) East All-Region Second Team, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) East All-Region Second Team and Northeast-10 All-Conference First Team accolades. In 15 appearances, including 14 starts, Walkinshaw went 7-2 with a 2.01 ERA, allowing just 78 hits, while striking out 102 and walking 31, in 98-and-two-thirds innings. Walkinshaw, who held batters to a .218 average against him, went the distance twice and limited opponents to two runs or less in 10 starts. Walkinshaw led the league in innings pitched and strikeouts, while ranking second in wins, seventh in ERA and 11^th in strikeouts per game (9.30). He was named the NE10 Pitcher of the Week on four occasions this season, while no other pitcher in the league won the award more than once. Walkinshaw finished second in innings and fifth in strikeouts in the program’s single-season record book.

For his career, Walkinshaw finished 23-5 with 16 saves and a 1.93 ERA over 76 appearances, including 22 starts. In 233 innings, he struck out 234 and walked just 62, while giving up only 168 hits. In SNHU’s career record book, Walkinshaw is second in wins and ERA, fourth in strikeouts and fifth in innings pitched.

His 11 saves during the 2016 campaign rank as the second most in a single-season at SNHU, as he earned ABCA East All-Region Second Team and NE10 All-Conference Second Team honors that year. He was also an NE10 Second Teamer in 2018, as well as a member of the All-Rookie Team in 2015.

Walkinshaw also shined in the classroom, twice claiming NE10 Academic All-Conference recognition, as well as a Google Cloud Academic All-District nod this season. He finished his sport management degree with a 3.88 GPA, while wrapping up his MBA this year with a perfect 4.0.

Walkinshaw is the fifth player from the Northeast-10 to be drafted in 2019, joining Franklin Pierce University’s Zach Hart (Cleveland Indians; No. 310), Pace University’s Dan Wirchansky (Milwaukee Brewers; No. 763), Adelphi University’s Ed Baram (Oakland Athletics; No. 914) and Bentley University’s Ryan Berardino (Boston Red Sox; No. 1,037).

Penmen Selected in the MLB Draft

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