NEW YORK - Twenty-three Southern Conference baseball players were selected in the 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, which concluded with rounds 16-40 on Wednesday.

After Georgia Southern outfielder Victor Roache became the highest SoCon draft pick in 33 years by going 28^th overall on Monday night, teammate Chris Beck led off the list of SoCon players taken on day two. The right-handed pitcher was selected in the second round, 76 overall, by the Chicago White Sox.

Samford outfielder Brandon Miller and left-handed pitcher Lex Rutledge were taken in the fourth and sixth rounds, respectively, while teammate Josh Martin was the 10^th round choice of the Cleveland Indians.

Samford led the way with a school-record seven players drafted, which tied for the eighth-highest total among colleges nationwide. Georgia Southern and Appalachian State each had four players selected, followed by three from College of Charleston and two from Elon. UNCG, Western Carolina, and Wofford each had one player drafted.

The total of 23 players drafted fell short of the all-time SoCon record of 30, which was reached in 2009. However, the draft was shortened this year by 10 rounds, dropping from 50 to 40 overall rounds.

SoCon Players Selected in the 2012 MLB Draft

Round Overall     Player                      School                         Pos.     Team

1^st                28     Victor Roache           Georgia Southern          OF        Milwaukee Brewers

2^nd               76     Chris Beck                Georgia Southern          RHP     Chicago White Sox

4^th              144     Brandon Miller          Samford                       OF        Washington Nationals

6^th              192     Lex Rutledge            Samford                       LHP      Baltimore Orioles

6^th              205     Eric Phillips              Georgia Southern          3B        Toronto Blue Jays

7^th              242     Marty Gantt              College of Charleston    OF        Tampa Bay Rays

8^th              250     Christian Powell        College of Charleston    RHP     Minnesota Twins

8^th              269     David Peterson         College of Charleston    RHP     Atlanta Braves

10^th            323     Josh Martin              Samford                       RHP     Cleveland Indians

13^th            419     Nathan Hyatt             Appalachian State         RHP     Atlanta Braves

14^th            449     Tyler Tewell               Appalachian State         OF/C    Atlanta Braves

15^th            460     Jared Leverett           Georgia Southern          LHP      Minnesota Twins

15^th            479     Alex Wilson              Wofford                        RHP     Atlanta Braves

18^th            569     Ross Heffley            Western Carolina           2B        Atlanta Braves

19^th            590     Tyler Vanderheiden   Samford                       RHP     New York Mets

21^st            649     Tyler Hollstegge        UNCG                           RHP     Oakland Athletics

22^nd            683     Jim Stokes               Elon                             RHP     Cleveland Indians

26^th            797     Seth Grant                Appalachian State         RHP     Miami Marlins

28^th            858     Ryan Arrowood         Appalachian State         RHP     Colorado Rockies

28^th            876     Joseph Burns           Samford                       LHP      Texas Rangers

33^rd          1027     Saxon Butler             Samford                       1B        New York Yankees

36^th           1110     Alex Swim                Elon                             C          St. Louis Cardinals

37^th           1147     Charles Basford        Samford                       RHP     New York Yankees