June 13, 2005

WASHINGTON - Less than one week after being drafted, former University of Dayton right handed pitcher Craig Stammen signed with the Washington Nationals Saturday to begin his professional baseball career. Stammen has been assigned to play for the Vermont Expos of the New York-Penn League.

Stammen was selected by the Nationals in the 12th round with the 354th overall pick in the 2005 MLB First-Year Player Draft last Tuesday. He is the highest drafted player in school history just ahead of 2004 selection Jerry Blevins who was picked by the Chicago Cubs in the 17th round. He is also the fourth Flyer to be drafted under Head Coach Tony Vittorio.

"I am excited to get started," Stammen said. "This is a dream come true for me, a dream that was made possible through hard work as well as guidance from everyone at UD. Coach Vittorio and his staff gave me the opportunity to go to the next level."

The Versailles High School grad will begin in the starting rotation for Vermont, which is a Class-A short season team located in Burlington, Vermont. The Expos season begins June 21 against the Lowell Spinners in Massachusetts.

Stammen played three years for the Flyers and is UD's all-time strikeout king with 185. He also ranks second in career saves (10), third in appearances (60), fourth in career innings pitched (231.2) and complete games (12).

As a junior this season, Stammen was 9-6 with a team-best 2.80 ERA which also ranked fourth in the Atlantic 10 Conference. He was second in the conference with 106.0 innings pitched and sixth with career-high 77 strikeouts. Stammen was UD's opening day starter and remained in the top starting role throughout the season. His nine wins are the second most in school history and he surrendered two earned runs in 10 of his 15 starts and pitched six innings or more 14 times. Stammen's final start of the 2005 season was a seven-strikeout complete-game win over Duquesne, which was Dayton's first ever A-10 Tournament victory. Also a strong competitor in the classroom, Stammen was selected to the A-10 Academic All-Conference Team while leading UD to a school record 36 wins and its third 30-win season in the last five years. It was also Dayton's third ever berth in the A-10 Championship.

He spent his first two seasons as a Flyer mostly coming out of the bullpen collecting his first career save as a freshman and nine more as a sophomore, which is UD's single-season record. He has been a power pitcher for his entire career at Dayton, but has shown control as well with 185 strikeouts and just 73 walks (2.53 strikeout-to-walk ratio) in 231.2 career innings pitched.