Junior catcher Cassidy Brown was the second Lion to be drafted in the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft, taken in the 12th round (#348 overall) by the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday afternoon. J.D. Busfield was drafted on Friday, selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the seventh round.

In addition to the two Lions from 2016, LMU commit Matt Manning went #9 overall in the first round to the Detroit Tigers. Manning was committed to playing both baseball and basketball for LMU starting next year.

Brown, a semifinalist for the Gregg Olson Breakout Player of the Year award, recently completed a 2016 season in which he batted .325 with 29 runs scored, 17 doubles, a triple, six homers and 41 RBI. The team leader in virtually every offensive category, Brown also drew 18 walks, seven hit-by-pitches and stole four bases en route to second team All-WCC honors. Defensively, he threw out 32% of potential base stealers. He led the team with 23 multi-hit games this season, and managed multiple hits in 14 of his final 30.

Brown's breakout season comes after a 2015 campaign in which he hit .138 over 47 games played and 42 starts. The native of Hudson, Ohio had just three extra-base hits in his first two seasons as a Lion, but finished 2016 with 24. Prior to returning to LMU for his junior campaign, Brown impressed in the Cape Cod League, where he was named starting catcher for the East All-Stars in the 2015 Cape Cod League All-Star Game. Overall during the summer, Brown hit .277 with four doubles and three homers playing for Brewster.