Sept. 17, 2007

FLUSHING, N.Y. - Former Villanova star pitcher Kevin Mulvey has been named the New York Mets Minor League Pitcher of the Year, it was announced last week. In his first full season at the professional level, Mulvey earns the organization's top pitching award after an outstanding season pitching for the two highest-level teams in the Mets minor league system. Mulvey was honored along with the Mets other top minor league players at Shea Stadium in a ceremony on Sunday prior to the team's game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Mulvey pitched nearly the entire season for the Double-A level Binghamton Mets. As the ace of the team's starting rotation, he compiled an 11-10 record and 3.32 ERA in 26 starts. Mulvey surrendered just four home runs in 151 2/3 innings for Binghamton, striking out 110 while allowing 145 hits and 43 walks. He allowed three earned runs or less in 21 of his 26 starts and compiled a streak of 99 1/3 innings over three months in which he did not allow a home run.

As successful as Mulvey was while pitching for Binghamton, it was his performance late in the season for the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs that likely cemented his status in the organization. In his first start for the Zephyrs, Mulvey won a game that clinched a playoff berth for the team. His next start came in the clinching game for New Orleans in the team's playoff series against the Nashville Sounds. In all, Mulvey pitched 13 scoreless innings in those two starts for the Zephyrs, allowing only six hits and striking out 11 with no walks.

During the season, Mulvey pitched in the prestigious Major League Baseball All-Star Futures game in San Francisco and was the starting pitcher in the Eastern League All-Star Game just days later. Following the Eastern League All-Star break, Mulvey endured a stretch of four starts in a row in which he pitched against a fellow All-Star. He went 2-1 with a 2.88 ERA in those four starts.

After signing with the Mets late in the 2006 season, Mulvey made a successful pro debut in a two-inning start for the Rookie-level GCL Mets. He then moved straight to Binghamton and compiled a 1.35 ERA in three starts spanning 13 1/3 innings pitched. Earlier this year, he spent part of spring training with the parent team and appeared in one Major League exhibition game, pitching two innings and striking out St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols.

In his collegiate career, Mulvey set a school record for the most strikeouts by a Villanova pitcher in a three-year span with 222. He logged 244.0 innings for the Wildcats, starting all 41 of his collegiate appearances and compiling 14 wins. On March 26, 2005, he pitched a no-hitter in a BIG EAST Conference game against Connecticut. That feat is the only no-hitter by a Villanova pitcher in a conference game and is one of just two no-hitters thrown by Wildcat pitching in the last 45 years.

Mulvey was one of several former Villanova players in the American minor league baseball ranks this summer. First baseman Jeremy Hunt played the entire season for the Single-A Fort Wayne Wizards in the San Diego Padres system, while right-handed pitcher Nick Allen pitched for the High Desert Mavericks in the Seattle Mariners organization. Additionally, pitcher Brian Slocum began the season pitching in Triple-A for the Cleveland Indians. Slocum is the most recent Villanova alum to reach the major leagues, having pitched for the Indians in 2006. Former Wildcat slugger Rob Cafiero played this season with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League.

The Villanova baseball program is one of the oldest traditions on campus, dating back to the team's inaugural season in 1865. The Wildcats baseball team ranks third in NCAA history in longevity behind programs at Fordham and Yale. Villanova has had 54 former players reach the major leagues and had its players chosen in the First-Year Player Draft 54 times since the inception of the draft system in 1965.