By Ben Harris

Mike Shawaryn, the most prolific pitcher to ever step foot in College Park, Maryland, was selected 148th overall in the 5th round by the Boston Red Sox in the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft, Friday.

The junior from Carneys Point, New Jersey, will leave the University of Maryland after three dominant seasons between 2014-2016. Shawaryn provided consistency for the Terps amidst their conference change, greeting Big Ten hitters in 2015 with a career-best 1.71 ERA and 13-2 record in 116 innings.

Affectionately known as “The Unicorn,” Shawaryn is the Terrapins’ all-time leader in innings pitched (307.1), strikeouts (307), and wins (30). Throughout his career, he struck out nearly one of every four batters he faced while holding opponents to a paltry .215 batting average.

In his freshman year, Shawaryn earned First Team Freshman All-American honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. In 2015, he earned All-Big Ten First Team honors and was named a First Team All-American by the NCBWA, CBN and Perfect Game before representing his country on the USA Collegiate National Team.

Shawaryn put on a fitting performance in his last start in a Terrapin uniform, striking out 16 batters in a complete game win over Indiana in this year’s Big Ten Tournament opener. Those 16 punch-outs set a TD Ameritrade Park record.

Prior to the draft, our Matt Present and Jon Lewis broke down Shawaryn’s draft prospects.