June 7, 2006

NEW YORK, N.Y. - For the fifth straight year and 15th time since the inception of the draft, the Villanova baseball team has had multiple players chosen in the First-Year Player Draft. On Wednesday afternoon, senior first baseman Jeremy Hunt (Tampa, Fla.) was taken by the San Diego Padres in the 28th round with the 843rd overall pick in the draft. Hunt joins Kevin Mulvey (Parlin, N.J.), who was the top pick of the New York Mets in the second round on Tuesday.

"I am so happy for Jeremy to have the opportunity to play professional baseball," Villanova head coach Joe Godri said. "It is always special for a senior to get drafted because it is their last chance, and it is even more special for someone like Jeremy because he went from being completely off the radar to someone who was sought after by many teams. We had seven straight pitchers among Villanova draft picks in recent years before Jeremy was selected, and we hope that he is the first in a long lone of position players from Villanova that will be drafted in this and coming seasons."

Hunt becomes the 45th Wildcat player and the 52nd draft pick from the Villanova program since the inception of the draft in 1965. He is the first player from the Wildcats ever drafted by the Padres. In addition, Hunt is the first Villanova position player chosen in the draft since Rob Cafiero was taken with the 959th overall pick by the Phillies in the 32nd round in 2002. The last position player drafted higher than Hunt was Larry Kleinz, who went to the Marlins with the 494th pick in the 17th round of the 1996 draft.

"Jeremy did an outstanding job for us in two seasons after transferring here from St. Petersburg College," Godri said. "He put up impressive offensive numbers during his career and his success absolutely warrants him being given the chance to play at the professional level."

This season, Hunt received second team All-Big East accolades and was the Philadelphia Diamond Five Player of the Year. He led the Big East with 15 home runs and was the Wildcats leader in nine different offensive categories. His .385 batting average, 56 runs batted in, .481 on-base percentage and .743 slugging percentage were all the highest such marks by a Villanova hitter in Godri's five-year tenure as head coach.

Hunt had 72 hits during the 2006 season, 33 of which went for extra bases. He led the team with 35 walks and struck out just 27 times in 233 at-bats. Hunt batted a torrid .415 against Big East competition and closed the season by hitting safely in 19 straight games and reaching base safely in each of his last 33 games.

In just two years with the Wildcats, Hunt batted .356 with a .450 on-base percentage and a .606 slugging percentage. He totaled 128 hits - 50 for extra bases - and 56 walks with just 54 strikeouts. Hunt's .356 career batting average ties for 10th best in the history of the program.

Of the 55 Villanova draft picks since 1965, there have been a total of 30 pitchers and 25 position players chosen. Eleven of the 13 players drafted since 1998 have been pitchers, with Cafiero being the only exception to that streak before Hunt. The two position players are tied for fourth in school history with 15 home runs in a season, a total put up by Cafiero in 2002 and matched by Hunt this season.