| Scott Gaffney was drafted in the 12th round by the Cincinnati Reds. |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; June 8, 2007 - Just minutes after Drew O??Neil (Roswell, Ga.) was taken in the eighth round of the MLB Draft, becoming the first Penn State player since 2005 to be drafted, two more Nittany Lions saw their names come up on the draft board as junior shortstop/pitcher Scott Gaffney (Westbury, N.Y.) and senior pitcher Craig Clark (Phoenixville, Pa.) were both taken in the draft. Gaffney was drafted by Cincinnati Reds, the same team that drafted O??Neil in the eighth round, with the 15th pick in the 12th round, the 379th overall pick. Just two rounds and 55 picks later, Clark was taken by the San Francisco Giants with the 10th pick of the 14th round, the 434th overall pick.
Gaffney, a native of Westbury, N.Y., has spent the last two years at Penn State??s starting shortstop after playing primarily third base as a freshman. After making 12 relief pitching appearances over his first two seasons, he attracted more attention of scouts this year by converting to a starting pitcher. He made eight starts for the Nittany Lions this past year and nine pitching appearances, compiling a 3.76 ERA in 40.2 innings while allowing 17 earned runs and striking out 35 with 14 walks. Three of his best performances of the year on the mound came against three of the best opponents that the Nittany Lions faced in North Carolina, Wichita State and Oral Roberts. Against the Tar Heels, he allowed two earned runs while striking out three in a 5.1-inning stint while against Wichita State, he threw 7.1 innings, allowing just four hits and one unearned run while striking out seven. Penn State dropped both games by just one run to a pair of opponents that are playing in the NCAA Super Regionals this weekend. Against Oral Roberts, which also made the NCAA Tournament, he struck out a career-high eight and allowing four runs in seven innings of work. At the plate, Gaffney hit .265 while co-leading the team in home runs with five. He set a new school record for sacrifice hits in a season with 17 and also led the team in stolen bases with 14. In Big Ten play, Gaffney hit .347, which was tops among all Big Ten shortstops in conference play, and also had a .582 slugging percentage.
| Craig Clark was drafted in the 14th round by the San Francisco Giants. |
Clark, a native of Phoenixville, Pa., completed his Penn State career this year ranking in the top five of a few statistical categories and by having the finest season in his career as a Nittany Lion. Clark led the team in ERA at 2.77, which placed him second in the Big Ten. He went 6-4 to lead the team in wins in 14 starts and threw 91 innings, allowing 28 earned runs while striking out 63. He started two of Penn State??s five wins over nationally-ranked teams this year. The southpaw took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in Penn State??s first game at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park against Central Connecticut back on March 23 and finished with an eight-inning, one-hit performance. He threw a complete-game one-hit shutout against Northwestern on April 21 and was a two-time Big Ten Pitcher of the Week in addition to being named first team All-Big Ten. Clark finished his Penn State career tied for fourth with 41 career starts, fifth in strikeouts with 230, and fourth in innings pitched with 273.2.