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Liberty outfielder D.J. Artis selected in seventh round by the Chicago Cubs

liberty baseballThe Chicago Cubs selected Liberty Flames outfielder D.J. Artis during seventh round on the second day of the 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) First Year Player Draft, this afternoon.

The Cubs chose Artis with the 218th pick of the draft. Artis, who completed his junior year at Liberty this past spring, becomes the highest Liberty draft pick since outfielder Ian Parmley was taken by the Toronto Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 2012 draft with the 235th pick.

With the outfielder’s selection, Liberty has now had 65 players taken in the MLB Draft during the 45-year history of its program and had at least one player chosen in each draft since 2000.

The outfielder becomes the fourth Liberty player all-time to be chosen by the Cubs in the MLB Draft. The team previously selected former Flames pitcher Danny Hodges in the 41st round of the 1996 draft and shortstop Joey Monahan in the seventh round and outfielder Keith Butler in the 10th round of the 2002 draft.

Artis etched his name in the program’s record books during his three seasons at Liberty. The outfielder is one of three Flames with more than 200 hits, 165 runs scored and 65 stolen bases (Butler, 2000-02 and Monahan, 2000-02) during his career. In addition, he is one of only 21 Flames to collect 200 hits.

The Greensboro, N.C., native closed out 2018 second all-time at Liberty in runs scored with 173 and tied for second all-time with 72 stolen bases. The outfielder led the Big South in runs scored each of the past two seasons, setting a career high with 61 in 2018.

The outfielder is the Liberty program leader in walks with 166, 71 more than any player in school history. Artis led the nation with a program-record 62 bases on balls in 2017 and was among the top 10 in the country in walks each of his three seasons as a Flame.

A three-time Big South first team outfielder, Artis was named to several All-America teams and the Big South Player of the Year in 2017. He also was selected to several Freshman All-America squads and voted the Big South Freshman of the Year in 2016.

In his three seasons at Liberty, Artis hit .339 with 109 RBI and a .495 on base percentage. He collected 211 hits, 38 doubles, nine triples and 12 home runs over 169 games. The outfielder recorded 66 multiple-hit games and 21 games with three or more. During the past two seasons, he reached base safely in 68 consecutive games, the longest such streak in NCAA Division I baseball.

Before electing to attend Liberty in 2016, Artis was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 40th round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of high school.

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