STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College senior shortstop Joey Murphy (Derry, N.H.) has been named as a D3baseball.com Fourth Team All-American, as announced by the organization earlier this week.
Murphy is the first Saint Joseph's player to earn All-America acclaim since former pitching standout Chad Rafferty '13 earned D3baseball.com and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) third team honors following the 2012 campaign.
The postseason honors keep piling up for Murphy, who earlier this month was named as the 2019 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Year and earned First Team All-GNAC, First Team D3baseball.com All-New England, and First Team All-Region honors from the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) and ABCA/Rawlings organizations. The four-year starter has also been selected to play in the NEIBA Senior All-Star Game.
Murphy earns the national accolade after hitting .427 (70-164) with 50 runs, 11 doubles, three triples, one home run, 24 RBI, and a program-record 37 stolen bases – the second-highest tally in the nation - this spring. He posted a .478 OBP with a .549 slugging percentage, registered 23 multiple-hit games, and ended his senior campaign riding a 17-game hitting streak. Murphy was held hitless in just four of the Monks' 44 games in 2019.
Also an outstanding defensive shortstop, Murphy registered a .939 fielding percentage after making 12 errors in 198 chances and played a part in 21 double plays this spring. His play in the field helped the 2019 SJC team break the program's single-season fielding percentage with a .968 mark.
In 152 career games Murphy hit .363 (192-529) with 138 runs, 27 doubles, five triples, three home runs, 80 RBI, and 74 stolen bases. The senior standout broke the Monks' career stolen bases record this spring and currently ranks seventh in team history in runs, eighth in hits, and 10th in batting average. Murphy is one of just four players in program history to notch 70 hits and 50 runs in the same season.
Murphy is the seventh Saint Joseph's player to garner All-America honors since the College became a full-fledged NCAA DIII member in the fall of 2003. He joins Rafferty, Charlie Furbush, Luke Enman '08, Pat Moran '11, Ian Lee '11, and Todd Keneborus '11 on the short list of Monks' NCAA All-Americans.
The senior shortstop is the only GNAC player to claim D3baseball.com All-America accolades and one of 10 New England players to be listed on the four teams. Murphy joins New Englanders Jake Dexter (USM), Josh Goulet (Plymouth State), Nick Herzog (UMass.-Boston), David Larson (WPI), Michael Genaro (Babson), R.J. Hall (Tufts), Ben Lambert (USM), Mike Webb (RIC), and Bobby Tramondozzi (UMass.-Boston) on the 2019 D3baseball.com All-America Teams.
Under the watch of 27th-year Head Coach Will Sanborn '86 this season, Saint Joseph's posted a 33-12 overall record – including a 13-3 mark in GNAC play – en route to earning the #2 seed in the conference tournament. The Monks advanced to the GNAC Championship game with wins over Johnson & Wales and Suffolk and – after the Wildcats forced an if-necessary contest – received a walk-off RBI double off the bat of senior catcher Greg Emanuelson (Hudson, N.H.) in the bottom of the 11th to claim their first conference title since 2014.
With the GNAC Championship Saint Joseph's earned an automatic berth into the NCAA DIII Tournament for the ninth time since 2006. The Monks opened with a loss to Wheaton College, stayed alive with a lopsided victory over Baruch College, and saw their season come to a close with a 7-3 loss at the hands of the Lyons.
D3BASEBALL.COM ALL-AMERICA TEAMS
