June 19, 2003

WACO, Texas - Baylor rightfielder David Murphy and centerfielder Chris Durbin were each named as 2003 All-Americans by Baseball America, the publication announced Thursday.

Murphy, a junior from Spring, Texas, was named to Baseball America's All-America First Team after leading the nation in hits this season with 121. Murphy earned consensus all-Big 12 first-team honors, thanks to a .413 average, 11 home runs and 67 RBI; his 121 hits set a new school and Big 12 record. That level of success prompted the Boston Red Sox to select Murphy with the 17th overall pick of the first round in this year's Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Murphy was also honored with a first-team All-America selection by CollegeBaseballInsider.com earlier this week, and was named first-team All-America by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association (NCBWA) for 2003.

Durbin was named to the All-America Third Team by Baseball America. The senior hit .346 with 23 doubles and 50 RBI from the leadoff spot. Durbin set a new school record with 94 runs scored, tops in the country this year, and finished second in the Big 12 with 18 home runs. A senior from Wylie, Texas, Durbin was named All-Big 12 first-team by the league's coaches and made his way onto the watch lists for the Golden Spikes Award, the Rotary Smith Award and Baseball America's Player of the Year. He was drafted in the 10th round by the Red Sox.

The dual selections marks the fourth time Baylor has had two all-Americans in the same season; the Bears last duplicated that feat in 2000, when Zane Carlson and Chad Hawkins were each so honored.

Baylor saw its 2003 season end in an NCAA Super Regional defeat, losing to LSU two games to one. The Bears finished with a 45-23 record, tying the 2000 team for most wins in a season, and set new team single-season marks in eight statistical categories, including batting average, hits, doubles and total bases. The year also saw Baylor players set or match single-season records for hits (David Murphy, 121), runs (Chris Durbin, 94) and doubles (Michael Griffin, 26).

A complete list of the Baseball America All-America teams is available at BaseballAmerica.com.