MATT ARBURR DRAFTED BY THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
PLEASANTVILLE, NY - With the 532nd pick in the 17th round, the Saint Louis Cardinals selected Pace University junior Matt Arburr (Bristol, CT/Bristol Eastern) (third base) in the 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Arburr received various honors this season as he was named to the Northeast-10 Conference Baseball All-Conference First Team, the American Baseball Coaches of America (ACBA)/Rawlings Division II Northeast Regional First Team, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Northeast All-Region Second Team and the Daktronics Baseball All-Northeast Region Second Team.
Arburr played and started in a team and career-high 55 games this season batting .315 (62-for-197) setting career-highs in homeruns (12), walks (36), triples (3), total bases (116), slugging percentage (.589) and stolen bases (16), to go along with 12 doubles, 46 runs batted in and 41 runs scored. His 62 hits this season tied his career-high. Arburr led the team in slugging, RBI's, homeruns, total bases and walks. He also led the NE-10 in homeruns, while ranking third in slugging, total bases and walks and ranking fourth in RBI's. For his career, Arburr played in 149 career games, starting in 147 batting .316 (170-for-538) with 27 homeruns, 42 doubles, 72 walks, 121 RBI's, 112 runs scored, 303 total bases, while slugging .563 with a .407 on base percentage. He is tied for seventh all-time at Pace in homeruns, seventh in RBI's, tied for fifth in doubles, tied for 14th in hits, tied for 18th in runs scored and 14th in walks.
Arburr becomes the seventh player drafted under Head Coach Henry Manning's seven-year tenure joining past teammates Earl Oakes (Oakland A's/ 24th Round - 728th overall), David Qualben (Houston Astros/7th Round - 219th Overall), Bryan Hallberg (Houston Astros/12th Round - 369th overall) and Matt Reilly (Los Angeles Angels/27th Round - 822nd overall), who were all taken in the 2006 MLB draft. Patrick Stanley (Colorado Rockies '04) and Mike Bohlander (Chicago White Sox '02) are the other Setters to be taken in the draft. Manning, a Bergen County native and former Pace standout, played professionally for the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox minor league affiliates before enjoying several years of managerial experience on the minor league level.
