LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV baseball's Max Smith was selected in the 31st round (929th pick) of the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Draft by the Minnesota Twins Wednesday. Smith was the second Rebel selected in the three-day draft, joining teammate Bryson Stott who was taken by the Philadelphia Phillies Monday with the 14th overall pick.
 
Smith, a senior from Tucson, Arizona, played in a total of 172 games at UNLV with 143 starts, with 132 of those coming in right field. In four years, he hit .281 with 158 hits, 63 of which went for extra bases (36 doubles, 20 home runs and seven triples) and attributed to a .476 slugging percentage. He also recorded a .367 on-base percentage with the addition of his 71 walks and getting hit by a pitch 11 times. Additionally, he had 43 multiple-hit and 24 multiple-RBI games, scored the game-winning run 12 times and was responsible for the game-winning RBI on 11 occasions.
 
After playing in a total of 65 games over his first two years with the Scarlet & Gray, the Canyon Del Oro High School graduate became a stalwart in the lineup, starting all 117 contests as a junior and senior, and registering a .302 batting average with 137 hits, 32 doubles, 19 homers and four triples. He also added 91 RBI and 79 runs.
 
As a senior, Smith earned Mountain West All-Conference Second Team honors. He led the Rebels in RBI (49) and tied for the top spot – along with Stott – in home runs (10). He was second in runs (40), doubles (16), total bases (111), slugging (.498) and walks (31) as well as multiple-RBI games (12). Moreover, he amassed 19 multiple-hit games, while batting .291 with 65 hits.
 
He also played a role in 11 victories this season, scoring the game-winning run six times – a team best – and knocking in the game-winning RBI five times, tying for the team lead.
 
QUOTABLE: "Max (Smith) is a professional hitter," said Rebel head coach Stan Stolte. "The Twins will be happy with him. He's a great team guy and he's a winner"
 
REBEL DRAFT NOTES:
- Stott was UNLV Baseball's fourth first-round pick in program history.
- Stott was UNLV Baseball's first first-round pick since Erick Fedde was taken 18th overall in 2014.
- Smith was the eighth Rebel to be drafted by the Minnesota Twins since 1991; the first since T.J. White was selected in 2014 (18th round).
- UNLV Baseball has had at least one player drafted by an MLB team for 36 straight years (1984-2019).
- Since 1970, UNLV Baseball has had at least one player selected in 44 of the last 49 years (1970-2019).
- Since 2013, UNLV Baseball has had at least two players selected in each draft.
- Stott and Smith became UNLV Baseball's 27th and 28th players drafted by MLB teams, respectively, since head coach Stan Stolte and associate head coach Kevin Higgins joined the program in 2011. There have been 15 Rebels drafted by MLB teams since Stolte took over as head coach beginning in 2016.