ESU Postseason Honors (PDF)

Related: Festa drafted by Seattle (7th round) Friday

EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University redshirt junior outfielder Robert Bennie has been selected by the Oakland Athletics in the 24th round (pick 712) of the 2016 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft on Saturday afternoon.

Bennie (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) joins right-handed pitcher Matt Festa, selected by the Seattle Mariners in the seventh round on Friday, to give ESU two MLB Draft picks in the same year for the first time in program history.

Bennie joins his brother, Joe, as MLB Draft picks by the Oakland A's from ESU. Joe, a second baseman, was selected in the 28th round in 2013 after his senior season at ESU following three years at Division I La Salle and is currently with the A's high-A affiliate in Stockton (Calif.).

Robert spent the 2016 season at ESU following two years (2013 and 2014) at Division I Virginia. He was named to All-America teams by the ABCA (2nd team) and D2CCA (3rd team), was named Atlantic Region Player of the Year by the ABCA and NCBWA, and was the PSAC East Athlete of the Year.

Bennie hit .397 with a .461 on-base percentage and .643 slugging percentage, helping ESU (38-18) set a program record for wins and make its third trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament in the last six seasons.

Bennie had 89 hits (21 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs), 54 RBI, 67 runs, 22 walks, six times hit by pitch and was 23-for-26 on stolen bases. He opened the season with an 18-game hitting streak, tied for ESU's longest since 2003, and had a 14-game hitting streak late in the year.

He set ESU single-season records for hits (89), runs (67) and total bases (144), tied the record for doubles (21), ranks tied for third in extra-base hits (33) and home runs (10), tied for sixth in RBI (54) and tied for fifth in stolen bases (23) in the Warriors' record book.

Festa and Bennie are the sixth and seventh ESU players drafted in program history, and the fifth and sixth in the last eight years (since 2009) under ninth-year head coach John Kochmansky.

Festa, drafted with the 207th pick (7th round) by the Seattle Mariners on Friday, is the highest draft pick in school history. The redshirt senior right-hander went 11-2 with a 2.35 ERA, 105 strikeouts, 21 walks, 72 hits allowed and a .218 opponents batting average in 88.0 innings over 13 starts, including nine complete games and two shutouts.

Festa set ESU single-season records for wins (11), strikeouts (105), innings (88.0), starts (13) and complete games (9) in 2016. He set ESU career records for wins (23) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.1) in his three-year career with the Warriors after transferring from DII Dominican (N.Y.) prior to the 2014 season.

Joe Bennie was drafted in 2013 following his senior season at ESU, earning ABCA All-Region first team and All-PSAC East first team honors after helping the Warriors win the PSAC championship. Bennie was named team MVP of the Beloit Snappers, a single-A affiliate of the A's, in 2015. He is currently hitting .284/.363/.406 with 42 RBI and 30 runs through 58 games with Stockton this spring.

Festa and Bennie were two of nine players selected from the PSAC this weekend, the most in conference history.

ESU's six MLB Draft picks in the last eight years are tied for second-most in the PSAC.


ESU MLB Draft History
1991 - Joel Bennett (21st round, Boston)
2009 - Mark Angelo (44th round, Seattle)
2011 - Jeremy Gigliotti (19th round, San Diego)
2013 - Joe Bennie (28th round, Oakland)
2014 - Chris Knott (34th round, Tampa Bay)
2016 - Matt Festa (7th round, Seattle)
2016 - Robert Bennie (24th round, Oakland)


2016 PSAC Draft picks (9 - most in PSAC history)
6th - Brandon Miller (Millersville, RHP) by Seattle
7th - Matt Festa (ESU, RHP) by Seattle
17th - Reid Anderson (Millersville, RHP) by Texas
18th - Colin McKee (Mercyhurst, RHP) by Houston
19th - Matt Swarmer (Kutztown, RHP) by Chicago Cubs
22nd - Hank Morrison (Mercyhurst, OF) by Minnesota
22nd - Mick Fennell (California, OF) by St. Louis
24th - Robert Bennie (ESU, OF) by Oakland
33rd - Tyler Orris (Millersville, SS) by Colorado

Most MLB Draft picks in PSAC since 2009 (16 schools)
7 - Mercyhurst
6 - ESU, Millersville
4 - Kutztown, Slippery Rock, West Chester