Matt Wood Makes Penn State Baseball History

The All-Big Ten catcher becomes Penn State's highest-drafted position player.

Matt Wood, who led Penn State to its first Big Ten baseball tournament since 2012, made program history Monday. Wood, a catcher, became Penn State's highest-drafted position player when the Milwaukee Brewers selected him in the fourth round of the 2022 MLB Draft.

The Brewers drafted Wood 132nd overall, making him the Lions' highest-drafted player since pitcher Drew O'Neil (120th overall) in 2008.

Wood won the Big Ten regular-season batting title (.395) and finished with 12 home runs and 55 RBI. He also finished second in OPS (1.147), fourth in on-base percentage (.480) and fifth in slugging (.667).

Wood became the 12th draft pick under head coach Rob Cooper and the ninth Penn State player from Pennsylvania drafted since 2016.

"We are so fired up for Matt to realize his dream of playing professional baseball," Cooper said in a statement. "He has worked extremely hard to get this opportunity and now the real work begins. Congratulations Woody, the Brewers are getting a good one!"

Happy Valley ➡️ Milwaukee

Congrats to @Mattwood_59 on being selected in the 4th round by the @Brewers!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/WCRXmU0TLq

— Penn State Baseball (@PennStateBASE) July 18, 2022

Wood, from Gibsonia, Pa., is the 77th Penn State player to be drafted. He is the program's second catcher in four years to be drafted, following Ryan Sloniger (Toronto, 38th round) in 2019. Wood also is the program's 15th player selected in the top 10 rounds of the MLB Draft. Penn State has had players drafted in the first 10 rounds in three of the last four MLB Drafts.

A two-time All-Big Ten catcher, Wood started 106 of his 107 games at Penn State. He has a career .340 average with 132 hits, 26 doubles, four triples and 16 home runs.

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.