AUBURN - Before coming to Auburn, Matt Liuzza was never very good at sharing. At least not time behind the plate, but that was because he didn't have to.

Last season at Louisiana State University, Liuzza started the 212th game of his college career, setting the school's record for most starts by a catcher. This year, the Toronto Blue Jays selected three catchers in the Major League Baseball draft that were assigned to play for the Doubledays, including Liuzza in the 19th round.

While he has seen an ample amount of time as the designated hitter this season, he hasn't been crouching down behind home plate nearly as often as he was accustomed to. But less playing time is something that he expected when he was drafted.

“It's tough for any baseball player that is just coming out of college,” Liuzza said. “Getting my time in (as catcher) with two other guys was hard at first, but I've adjusted. After awhile you do what the team needs and you learn your role.”

Liuzza hails from Metairie, LA, a suburb of New Orleans. He earned four letters at Rummel High School before going on to start for the Tigers in 2003. After three successful collegiate seasons, Liuzza was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 30th round of the MLB draft in 2005. This was despite coming off just 45 starts and a .251 batting average in his junior year, both career lows. The decision whether or not to leave school early was an easy one for Liuzza.

“It just wasn't the right time for me. The first three years at LSU, the fans were awesome plus I didn't have that great of a season in my junior year. I wanted to go back and do better,” Liuzza said. “When you play at a place like LSU, it's hard to leave. And when draft day happened and I wasn't picked until the 30th round, it wasn't hard for me. I thought that I was better than 30th round so it was a quick decision. I called the coach and let him know I wanted to stay in school.”

The choice turned out to be a fruitful one for Liuzza as he batted .317, with 13 doubles, three home runs, 21 RBI and 28 runs in his senior season which resulted in the considerably higher draft selection.

Even though he was the last catcher picked in this year's draft by the Blue Jays behind Brian Jeroloman (sixth round) and Matt Lane (eleventh), Liuzza's play has earned him playing time in 23 out of the 36 Doubledays games this season, second amongst the catchers behind Lane (32).

“He's done a good job this season,” Doubledays manager Dennis Holmberg said. “As one of the three catchers, we're trying to get as much time between the three as we can. He's a hard worker with a great attitude. As a player from a major baseball university at LSU, we expect good things from him.”

As of Saturday's game at State College, Liuzza has a position-best .256 batting average. That includes three home runs hit this season, all between July 13-20, which ties him for the team lead with Luke Hopkins.

“I think my power numbers have been pretty good, but I'd like to hit more consistently and change a couple of things,” Liuzza said. “But as soon as everything has become second nature to me, I think things will get much better in the second half of the season.”

Even though Liuzza left a school where baseball produced more devoted Tigers fans than any other sport, he has grown just as fond of Auburn in just a few months.

“This town is great,” Liuzza said. “The weather is great up here, much better than playing in 95-degree heat. Auburn is small, which I'm not used to, but I'm getting there. The people are awesome and my host family has been great so it's actually been an easy transition. I just want us to win.”