Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Brown and Saxton Sign with the Kansas City Royals
6/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 11, 2004
Rusty Brown and Chris Saxton both signed to play professional baseball on Friday. The Florida Atlantic University seniors signed free agent contracts with the Kansas City Royals.
Brown (N. Fort Myers, FL), a four-year starter for FAU, assaulted the FAU record book this season. The Preseason All-American missed the first 21 games of the season with a broken ankle before he returned to guide the team to its first Atlantic Sun Tournament title. After a slow start he raised his batting average .152 in the last two months of the season and was named to the A-Sun Tournament MVP and to the All-Regional Team. In post-season play he hit .486 (18-for-37) with six doubles, five home runs and 23 RBI in eight games.
Serving multiple roles on the FAU pitching staff, Chris Saxton (Lake Worth, FL) managed to pick up 12 saves in two seasons to rank second all-time in saves. In both his junior and senior seasons he started the year as the closer before moving into the starting rotation. Saxton's most memorable outing was in the 2004 A-Sun Tournament when he threw a complete game against no. 2 Stetson. The right-handed pitcher allowed one run on three hits to earn All-Tournament honors.
With the two signings on Friday, FAU had six players either drafted or sign free agent contracts this season.
