Bears' Tanis Selected by Colorado Rockies in MLB Draft

MACON, Ga. – Mercer University baseball player Jacob Tanis was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 26^th round of the Major League Baseball June first-year player draft. Tanis was the 800^th player selected overall, with the draft continuing on Wednesday.

Tanis, a sophomore from Peachtree City, Ga. (McIntosh H.S.), played third base for the Bears’ team which won the 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference tournament championship and earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA championships. Mercer (38-24) went 1-2 in the NCAA tourney and was eliminated by eventual Regional champion Alabama last Sunday.

Tanis was among the A-Sun and NCAA Division I national leaders in several categories, including home runs (22), runs batted in (88), total bases (197) and slugging percentage (.735). Tanis was second on the MU squad with a .388 batting average, lacing 25 doubles and scoring 69 runs, as well.

Tanis’ RBI total is the second-most in Mercer single-season history and represents the most in the A-Sun since Stetson’s Frank Corr set the conference record with 98 in 2000.  He set the school single-season record for total bases and doubles. Tanis’ home run total ranked in a tie for second-most for the Bears in a single season.

Tanis was a 2010 first-team All-A-Sun Conference pick and named a third team Louisville Slugger All-American by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.

The sophomore has now received All-America honors for two-straight seasons after being named a Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-American in 2009.

Tanis is just the second Louisville Slugger All-American during head coach Craig Gibson’s seven-year tenure at Mercer. Andrew Urena was named to the first team in 2006.