Seven Liberty University baseball players were taken during the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft, the most players chosen in a single draft in the 38-year history of the program.
Liberty ties the 2007 and 2010 Coastal Carolina squads for the Big South Conference record of seven players picked in a single draft. Liberty has had 47 players drafted in program history. Until this year, the record was five players taken in the 2002 Draft.
The Flames have had a player taken in every MLB Draft since 2000.
The players selected this year are:
• Pitcher Garrett Baker, a junior, in the 11th round by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim;
• Pitcher Steven Evans, a senior, in the 13th round by the Minnesota Twins;
• Shortstop Matt Williams, a junior, in the 15th round by the St. Louis Cardinals;
• Catcher Casey Rasmus, a junior, selected in the 36th round by the St. Louis Cardinals. Casey will join his brother, Colby, a starting center fielder for the Cardinals;
• Pitcher Keegan Linza, a senior, in the 38th round by the Chicago White Sox;
• Third baseman Tyler Bream, a junior, in the 42nd round by the Arizona Diamondbacks; and
• Pitcher Blake Forslund, a sophomore, in the 17th round by the Boston Red Sox.