LMU Athletics
Luke Bolanos, Director of Athletic Communications
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Former Lincoln Memorial University baseball right-handed pitcher Matt Mullenbach is on a Triple-A roster for the first time in his professional career after signing a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins Friday. The Urbandale, Iowa, native has been assigned to the St. Paul Saints in Saint Paul, Minnesota, after most recently playing for the Lake Erie Crushers of the Frontier League, announced Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday afternoon, Mullenbach made his Class AAA debut, closing out a 6-1 loss to the Louisville Bats where he allowed only two hits in two full innings of work on the mound.
An undrafted free agent following his Railsplitter career, Mullenbach was picked up by the New York Mets organization in June of 2019 and got his pro start with the Brooklyn Cyclones, formerly a Class A Short Season affiliate of the Mets. He made 19 appearances for the Cyclones, registering a 2.84 ERA with 26 strikeouts before joining the Lake Erie Crushers this spring as a free agent. Tossing four innings for the Crushers across a pair of games in late May, Mullenbach fanned five.
Earning five saves and a hold while throwing for Brooklyn in 2019, the 24-year-old dominated right-handed hitters. Mullenbach allowed just a .123 batting average in 57 righty at-bats, helping the Cyclones capture the New York-Penn League title by tossing 2/3 innings of relief in game one of the championship series.
Making 36 starts at LMU, Mullenbach appeared in 60 games for the Railsplitters (2016-19) and posted a trio of shutouts. He ranks fourth in program history with 224 strikeouts and is sixth in strikeouts looking (52).
Mullenbach and his former teammate, All-American left-handed pitcher Ethan Elliott (2016-19), are two of the most successful pitchers in recent LMU baseball history. Elliott, the 2019 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings NCAA Division II Pitcher of the Year and 293rd overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft (San Diego Padres), pitches for the Fort Wayne TinCaps in High-A ball. Through 30 and 2/3 innings this season, he owns a 1.76 ERA and 2-1 record with 47 strikeouts and a .143 opponent batting average.