What a week for the Oregon State Beaver baseball team. First they demolish LSU 14-1 and 12-0 to advance to the Super Regional for the seventh time since 2005. Game one against Minnesota Friday at 2:pm. Pregame coverage with Mike Parker and Jim Wilson is at 1:30 on Rip City Radio 620.
The Major League Baseball Draft is complete and six Oregon State Beavers heard their names called.
Nick Madrigal- The Beaver second baseman was the fourth player selected in the first round. The Chicago White Sox selected the All-American. Madrigal is the highest Oregon State player ever taken in the MLB Draft. Michael Conforto was the highest at #10 in the first round in 2014 taken by the New York Mets.
Trevor Larnach- The Minnesota Twins took the outfielder in the 20th spot in the first round. Larnach, who hails from Pleasant Hill, Calif., has played in 146 career games for the Beavers, batting .298 with 30 doubles, 20 home runs and 116 RBI with 91 walks. This season, he's batting .327 with 13 doubles, 17 home runs and 65 RBI, which ranks second in the Pac-12.
Cadyn Grenier- Cadyn was the third Beaver taken in the first round. The #37 pick in the first taken by the Baltimore Orioles. The infielder makes it three in the first round. That has never happened before. Back in 2007 Mitch Canham and Eddie Kunz were both taken in the first round. Grenier, who hails from Henderson, Nev., has played in 172 career games for the Beavers, batting .285 with 27 doubles, 11 triples, 10 home runs and 99 RBI with 15 stolen bases. This season, he's batting .328 with 16 doubles, two triples, five home runs and 44 RBI.
Steven Kwan- The speedy outfielder was taken in the 5th round, the 163rd pick by the Cleveland Indians,
Kwan, who was recently named to the Corvallis Regional All-Tournament Team and is a 2018 All-Pac-12 selection, is batting .349 with eight doubles, six triples, two home runs and 38 runs batted in this season. For his career, he is batting .324 with 16 doubles, nine triples, three home runs and 63 RBI with 22 stolen bases.
Drew Rasmussen- The right-handed pitcher was taken in the 6th round the 185th pick by the Milwaukee Brewers. Rasmussen, who has not played this season, is 14-5 with a 2.65 earned run average in 33 career games, 24 of which have been starts. Opponents have batted just .213 against him in 170 innings, while striking out 150 to 45 walks.
Michael Gretler- The senior infielder was taken in the 10th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Its the second consecutive year he has been drafted by Pittsburgh. Last season he was taken in the 39th round by Pittsburgh. The Bonney Lake, Wash., native is batting .314 with 20 doubles, seven home runs and 43 runs batted in this season. For his career, he has played in 192 games, batting .287 with 37 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs and 92 RBI.
The draft continues at 9:am this morning Pacific time. It will be interesting to see if anymore Beavers including Lefty Luke Heimlich will be selected. His talent is incredible but will a major league team give him the opportunity. Stay tuned.