Culpepper and Martin Selected in Top 16 Rounds of MLB Draft
7/19/2022 3:00:00 PM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE – California Baptist University baseball's CJ Culpepper and David Martin gave the Lancers three Major League Baseball Draft picks in 2022 on Tuesday. It's the third time in the last five years CBU has had multiple MLB Draft picks in a season.
The Minnesota Twins selected Culpepper in the 13th round at 384 overall to make him the ninth highest drafted pick ever for the Lancers, while Martin was picked up by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 16th round at 468 overall. It's the first time CBU has had three picks in the top 16 rounds of any MLB Draft, as Martin became the No. 11 highest draft pick in team history.
Culpepper and Martin become the 38th and 39th Lancers to ever be drafted, the 27th and 28th under Coach Gary Adcock in his 19-year tenure. California Baptist has now had at least one player drafted in 12 of the last 13 years.
Culpepper, a right-handed pitcher, made consecutive All-Western Athletic Conference teams this year after serving as CBU's ace starter in 2022 and closer the year before. This past season, he made 16 appearances and 14 starts on the mound. He logged a 5-3 record, a save, 3.26 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and .216 batting average against. He struck out 76 batters of 69 innings and recorded five quality starts on the year.
It helped Culpepper follow up an incredible 2021 campaign. He logged a single-season record 13 saves for CBU that year, which not only led the WAC but ranked second in all of Division I in the regular season.
It led to him being named the 2021 WAC Freshman of the Year and an all-conference first-teamer. He was also selected as an NCAA Division I Freshman All-American by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). He was then voted to the NCBWA's All-America Third Team.
Martin made a name for himself in 2022 and earned All-WAC First Team honors at catcher. He played in 55 games and made 49 starts. He hit .395 and slugged .542 with a .506 on-base percentage and put together a 23-game hitting streak that ranked second in CBU history and tops in the NCAA era.
His success did not go unnoticed, as he was named a Top 30 Catcher in Division I by D1Baseball at the end of the March.
CBU'S NEXT-LEVEL SUCCESS
A total of 15 Lancers have been drafted as top-20 round selections. Tyson Miller is the highest draft pick in team history after the Chicago Cubs selected him in the fourth round at 134 overall in 2016. Miller is still in professional baseball with the Texas Rangers' Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express, and has made four appearances at the MLB level.
Two former CBU baseball players have reached the top level of MLB over the last five years. Trevor Oaks became the first Lancer to appear in an MLB game when he started on the mound for the Kansas City Royals on April 28, 2018. Miller became the second CBU baseball player to appear in an MLB game when he started for the Cubs on August 17, 2020.
At least one Lancer has been selected in the MLB Draft in 12 of the last 13 years. The lone exception over the last 13 years was 2020, when MLB condensed the draft down to five rounds in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. CBU did see one of its recruits, Kala'i Rosario, drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round at 158 overall in 2020.
ONE OF THE BEST
CBU finished the 2022 season with a 36-20 record and finished runner-up in the WAC West Division in the regular season, with an 18-12 conference mark. It polished off one of the best four-year NCAA Division I transitions. The Lancers went 118-64 over the last four years, with a 64.8 winning percentage and consecutive WAC titles in 2019 and 2021. Their winning percentage is first among D-I teams in transitions since 1998, with the win total ranking sixth, despite the 2020 season being canceled just 15 games in due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
California Baptist's 110 wins in its first three full seasons are the second-most by any transitioning team in that time span. The Lancers' 35 wins in 2019 ranked third among teams in their debut D-I season, while their 40 wins ranked first among transitioning teams in their second full season.
The Minnesota Twins selected Culpepper in the 13th round at 384 overall to make him the ninth highest drafted pick ever for the Lancers, while Martin was picked up by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 16th round at 468 overall. It's the first time CBU has had three picks in the top 16 rounds of any MLB Draft, as Martin became the No. 11 highest draft pick in team history.
Culpepper and Martin become the 38th and 39th Lancers to ever be drafted, the 27th and 28th under Coach Gary Adcock in his 19-year tenure. California Baptist has now had at least one player drafted in 12 of the last 13 years.
🚨 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐃 🚨
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) July 19, 2022
Congratulations to CJ Culpepper on being drafted by the @Twins in the 13th round at 384 overall. He's the second Lancer taken this draft and ninth highest draft pick in program history. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/CALK8VQp7i
Culpepper, a right-handed pitcher, made consecutive All-Western Athletic Conference teams this year after serving as CBU's ace starter in 2022 and closer the year before. This past season, he made 16 appearances and 14 starts on the mound. He logged a 5-3 record, a save, 3.26 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and .216 batting average against. He struck out 76 batters of 69 innings and recorded five quality starts on the year.
CJ Culpepper is going to fit in just fine with the Minnesota @Twins. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/o9zp7KQnBq
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) July 19, 2022
It helped Culpepper follow up an incredible 2021 campaign. He logged a single-season record 13 saves for CBU that year, which not only led the WAC but ranked second in all of Division I in the regular season.
It led to him being named the 2021 WAC Freshman of the Year and an all-conference first-teamer. He was also selected as an NCAA Division I Freshman All-American by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). He was then voted to the NCBWA's All-America Third Team.
🚨 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐃 🚨
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) July 19, 2022
Congratulations to David Martin on being drafted by the @Dbacks in the 16th round at 468 overall. He's the third Lancer taken this draft and 11th highest draft pick in program history. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/E0MlsQcaeZ
Martin made a name for himself in 2022 and earned All-WAC First Team honors at catcher. He played in 55 games and made 49 starts. He hit .395 and slugged .542 with a .506 on-base percentage and put together a 23-game hitting streak that ranked second in CBU history and tops in the NCAA era.
His success did not go unnoticed, as he was named a Top 30 Catcher in Division I by D1Baseball at the end of the March.
David Martin is a catcher who can rake, good pickup for the @Dbacks. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/QcEdcBtlS5
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) July 19, 2022
CBU'S NEXT-LEVEL SUCCESS
A total of 15 Lancers have been drafted as top-20 round selections. Tyson Miller is the highest draft pick in team history after the Chicago Cubs selected him in the fourth round at 134 overall in 2016. Miller is still in professional baseball with the Texas Rangers' Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express, and has made four appearances at the MLB level.
Two former CBU baseball players have reached the top level of MLB over the last five years. Trevor Oaks became the first Lancer to appear in an MLB game when he started on the mound for the Kansas City Royals on April 28, 2018. Miller became the second CBU baseball player to appear in an MLB game when he started for the Cubs on August 17, 2020.
At least one Lancer has been selected in the MLB Draft in 12 of the last 13 years. The lone exception over the last 13 years was 2020, when MLB condensed the draft down to five rounds in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. CBU did see one of its recruits, Kala'i Rosario, drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round at 158 overall in 2020.
ONE OF THE BEST
CBU finished the 2022 season with a 36-20 record and finished runner-up in the WAC West Division in the regular season, with an 18-12 conference mark. It polished off one of the best four-year NCAA Division I transitions. The Lancers went 118-64 over the last four years, with a 64.8 winning percentage and consecutive WAC titles in 2019 and 2021. Their winning percentage is first among D-I teams in transitions since 1998, with the win total ranking sixth, despite the 2020 season being canceled just 15 games in due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
California Baptist's 110 wins in its first three full seasons are the second-most by any transitioning team in that time span. The Lancers' 35 wins in 2019 ranked third among teams in their debut D-I season, while their 40 wins ranked first among transitioning teams in their second full season.
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙖 𝙬𝙧𝙖𝙥 𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩-𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝘾𝘼𝘼 𝘿𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙄. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/AQrBzp7XT7
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 29, 2022
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