When Elijah Dunham was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 40th round of the 2019 MLB Draft, he opted to return to Indiana for his junior season.
Yet, with COVID-19 cutting this past season short along with many other things, such as the 2020 MLB Draft only having five rounds, the Hoosier outfielder still found his way to the MLB as he just signed an UDFA contract with the New York Yankees.
The Evansville, IN native was an absolute force to be reckoned with for IU throughout his career. In his sophomore season he batted a team-best .310 on the season with 12 doubles, eight home runs, 29 RBI and 44 runs scored.
He also posted a team-best .434 on-base percentage and managed to end the year on an 18-game reached base streak.
While his junior season was cut short, Dunham was still very productive. He began ranked No. 39 on D1Baseball's Top 100 Hitter of 2019-20 Seasons List and strived from there.
He started in all 15 games this past season and batted .390 on the year with a team-best seven doubles, one home run, 11 RBI and 12 runs scored.
Dunham once again led the Hoosiers with an on-base percentage of .493 and also posted a .559 slugging percentage, which was good for second-best on the team.
With Dunham signing on UDFA contract, this always leaves a question up in the air for sophomore Grant Richardson, who was also another top IU draft prospect to go undrafted. However, he is a year younger which would make for more of a reason for him to stay in school.
You can see Elijah Dunham's official announcement on his decision to head to the MLB in the tweet below.
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