Catcher Luis Flores started 56 games at catcher for the Cowboys and hit .298 with 31 RBIs. Flores made his first collegiate start as a pitcher against Wichita State during the Stillwater Regional. In the seventh round, the Chicago Cubs drafted Flores, one of seven Cowboys taken in the MLB Draft.
Jordy Mercer had a whirlwind of a week.
First, Mercer, a junior shortstop, had perhaps the best game of his life on June 1, hitting three home runs to help Oklahoma State beat TCU in the Stillwater Regional.
Later, Mercer hit his fourth homer of the day, but still saw the Cowboys fall to Wichita State, 11-7, as OSU’s season ended in disappointment.
Yet baseball is a game of quick turnarounds, and Mercer wouldn’t stay down for long.
The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Mercer with the second pick in the third round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Thursday.
The draft began with the Tampa Bay Rays taking high school shortstop Tim Beckham from Georgia with the first pick, as the ESPN televised the draft for the second straight year. The draft has 50 rounds over two days.
Mercer became the first OSU player to go off the board when the Pirates grabbed him with the 79th overall pick.
Mercer, one of the leaders on a Cowboy team that finished 44-18 and climbed as high as No. 5 in the rankings, had a banner year.
Hitting .330 with 14 home runs and 60 RBIs, Mercer made the All-Big 12 teams at three positions: the first team at utility, second team at shortstop and honorable mention as a relief pitcher.
No other Cowboys were drafted the first day, which held the first six rounds, but as the picks and rounds moved more quickly Friday, six more OSU players came off the board.
With the seven players taken this year, Oklahoma State has had 31 players drafted in five years under coach Frank Anderson, including an OSU-record 11 players last year.
Luis Flores was the first Cowboy taken Friday, going to the Chicago Cubs in the seventh round.
Flores, a junior catcher, started all but one game for the Cowboys this year. In addition to his catching duties, he was the starting pitcher for OSU in their final game against Wichita State.
In the ninth round, Pittsburgh took its second Cowboy in the draft, senior third baseman Matt Hague.
Hague was the designated hitter for the Cowboys most of the season and was third on the team in RBIs. He also made six pitching appearances.
Two Cowboys were snatched up in the 10th round.
First, the Detroit Tigers drafted senior right-handed pitcher Robbie Weinhardt, the only Cowboy pitcher drafted. Weinhardt was 6-0 with a 3.89 ERA and was arguably OSU’s most reliable relief pitcher.
Eight picks later, the Cleveland Indians grabbed junior outfielder Donnie Webb, the Cowboys’ speedy leadoff man. Webb had an on-base percentage of .464 and was 18-18 in stolen base attempts.
After a long gap in which no OSU players were taken, the Cubs took their second Cowboy in the 25th round, power-hitting first baseman Rebel Ridling.
Ridling, a senior, led the team in home runs and RBIs but also strikeouts.
The last Cowboy drafted was sophomore outfielder Neil Medchill when the New York Mets selected him in the 33rd round.
The five Cowboys who still have at least a year of college eligibility left can choose to go to the MLB or remain at OSU. Of the 11 OSU players taken last year, only Matt Gardner (taken in the 32nd round) and Weinhardt (38th round) came back to college.
Two notable Cowboys were not drafted, pitchers Tyler Lyons and Andrew Oliver. Lyons and Oliver, both sophomores, were OSU’s best starting pitchers.
Lyons led the team in wins (12), and Oliver led the team in strikeouts (96). Both accepted invitations to the 2008 USA Baseball National Team Trials.
On Tuesday, http://rivals.com named Oliver a second-team All-American. He was also an All-Big 12 pick, but Oklahoma State declared him indefinitely ineligible May 31 during the Regionals.
Published reports speculated Oliver had contact with an agent regarding the draft that violated NCAA rules, and Anderson said that day that he was looking at an appeals process for the situation but wouldn’t comment further.
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