June 8, 2007

Stockton, Calif. - Pacific junior Justin Baum (La Mesa, Calif.) was drafted by his hometown team, the San Diego Padres, in the seventh round of the 2007 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft on Friday, June 8.

Baum played in all 59 games for the Tigers during 2007 season, including 58 starts. He finished the season as the Tigers' leader with a .367 batting average, eight home runs, 16 doubles, 43 RBI, .553 slugging percentage, 44 walks and a .471 on-base percentage. Justin is also second on the Tigers in hits (83) and runs scored (44). Following the season, Justin earned All-Big West First Team honors and off the field was named a 2007 CoSida Academic All-American.

Baum's 2007 season was the continuation of a stellar career at Pacific. During his three seasons at Pacific, Baum was one of the most decorated and powerful players in Tiger baseball history. Baum holds the Pacific career record for home runs with 37, nine more than any Tigers in history. Justin also cemented his name in several other Pacific records as he is currently second in RBI (134), second in total bases (345), third in doubles (43), sixth in runs scored (110), and seventh in hits (185).

Justin lit the Big West on fire during his first season as a Tiger. Baum finished the 2005 season with a .332 batting average, 17 home runs, 15 doubles, a .700 slugging percentage, 45 RBI and 39 runs scored. Baum was named to two Freshman All-American Teams as he was a Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and a Baseball America Freshman in 2005. He finished the 2005 season ranked 21st in the nation in home runs per game with 0.31 and was 23rd overall in slugging percentage.

In addition to his national accolades, Baum earned All-Big West First Team honors and led the conference in both home runs and slugging. He also etched his name atop several Pacific records as he broke the Tigers' single-season record for home runs with 17. The previous record for home runs in one season was 15 by Vic Sanchez in 1994. The pinnacle of Baum's season came during the week of May 9-16, as he earned Pacific's first national player of the week honor by going 13-for-16 (.813) with four home runs and 11 RBI in four games.