Trent Mummey and Hunter Morris were both taken aback Tuesday afternoon as they waited to see where they would respectively land on the second day of the Major League Baseball Draft.

Mummey was expecting to see his name scroll across the computer screen in the fourth round, and it did. Only it was the Baltimore Orioles with the 118th overall pick — a team he hadn’t made contact with in the days leading up to the draft.

“I haven’t really talked to them much,” Mummey said, “but it was exciting they took me.”

Morris, meanwhile, had his “eyebrows raised” as he waited, and waited, and waited.

Finally, Morris, the SEC’s Player of the Year, was selected 11 picks after Mummey, 129th overall, by the Milwaukee Brewers.

“I definitely had high hopes that it would have happened earlier, but I’m in a good situation with a great organization with the Brewers,” Morris
said. “It’s an exciting opportunity. I’m looking forward to seeing what the future has in store.”

Morris and Mummey were two of a school-record nine Tigers selected on the draft’s second day, which spanned 29 rounds.

The draft will conclude today with rounds 31-50.

Left-handed pitchers Cole Nelson (10th round, 313th pick, Detroit Tigers), Grant Dayton (11th round, 347th, Florida Marlins) and Bradley Hendrix (30th round, 907th, Cincinnati Reds) and sluggers Brian Fletcher (18th round, 549th, Kansas City Royals) and Kevin Patterson (23rd round, 701st, Tampa Bay Rays) all have the option to pass on their professional opportunities and return for their respective senior seasons. Closer Austin Hubbard (14th round, 431st, Rays) and catcher Ryan Jenkins (17th round, 509th, Royals) are graduating seniors.

Four of Auburn’s signees for the 2011 season were also drafted Tuesday: Gulf Coast Community College RHP Andrew Morris (16th round, Brewers), IF Zachary Alvord (18th round, Atlanta Braves), RHP Brandon Allen (18th round, San Francisco Giants) and OF Jay Gonzalez (27th
round, Boston Red Sox).

Mummey and Morris, barring any snags in contract negotiations, are done at Auburn after three seasons.

“It’s time to get out and play and continue my baseball career,” Morris said.

Morris had plenty of reasons to believe his name would be called much earlier Tuesday. Most scouting services projected him to fall somewhere in the first three rounds and an MLB.com report last week said he could go as high as the supplemental portion of the first round.

His performance this season certainly had nothing to do with his slip, either. Thirty pounds slimmer than his sophomore season, Morris set
Auburn’s single-season home run record with 23 on Sunday when he belted a grand slam in the Tigers’ 17-8 victory over Southern Miss. He
finished the year with a team-best .386 batting average and 76 RBI.

In 2007, Morris was selected 84th overall out of high school by the Red Sox, but opted to attend Auburn instead. The Brewers were a team
Morris talked to three years ago, he said.

“I knew there were a few teams that had some high interest, and they were definitely one of them,” Morris said. “It wasn’t really a surprise to me that they were the ones that stepped forward and took me there.”

Morris has a chance to make a homecoming of sorts in the coming years. The Brewers’ Double-A affiliate, the Huntsville Stars, are based in his hometown.

“I would like to do everything I can to not spend much time in Huntsville and be in Milwaukee as fast as possible,” Morris said. “It’ll be exciting to be back and play in front of those fans here hopefully in the next year or so.”

Mummey said last week the sprained ankle that forced him to miss half of his junior year was a “blessing in disguise.” It appears his analysis was spot-on.

In just 29 starts during the regular season, Mummey hit 15 home runs, which ranked sixth in the SEC, while batting .371 with 47 RBI, a total that ranked third on the team. His torrid stretch continued in this past weekend’s NCAA Regional, where he went 7-for-21 (.333) with a regional-high five doubles while also hitting two home runs, scoring six runs and driving in seven — all while battling a sore quadriceps muscle.

“As a little kid, you grow up watching Major League Baseball and watching all those pro guys play. And you go out in your backyard and dream of being one of those guys,” Mummey said. “I’m just ready to hopefully take that step forward and join a bunch of other great Auburn players who have played in the big leagues.”

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