Maroon & Gold Weekly Wrap-Up: Baseball

Maroon & Gold Weekly Wrap-Up:

Baseball

Three Bobcats Selected on Final Day of MLB Draft

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The final day of the Major League Baseball Draft saw three Texas State players selected with Nicholas Fraze being the first off the board in the 22nd round. Jaylen Hubbard followed him in the 27th round and Connor Reich was the final Bobcat drafted in the 31st round.

Fraze was picked by the Toronto Blue Jays with the 657th overall pick. He is the fifth Bobcat ever to be drafted by the Canadian organization. This season saw the junior right-hander earn All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team honors in which he posted a 6-4 record with a 4.84 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 89.1 innings over 16 games including 15 starts.

The Carrollton, Texas native recorded his best game of 2019 against Rice in the opening game of the Shriners College Classic. He held the Owls hitless through the first 6.1 innings and struck out a career-high 12 in the 1-0 victory. His performance earned him the classic’s Most Outstanding Player award along with the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week, College Sports Madness National Pitcher of the Week and named to Collegiate Baseball National Team of the Week.

Hubbard was chosen by the Washington Nationals with the 813th overall pick. He and Hunter McMahon are the first TXST teammates to be picked by the same franchise in the same draft since 2000 when the Cincinnati Reds selected Bryan Anderson and Josh Tomsu. Hubbard was also the 16th-player out of 25 selected in this year’s draft in which their father played in the major leagues.

This spring saw Hubbard named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team after setting career-highs with a .323 batting average, 59 runs scored, 34 walks, 17 doubles, eight home runs and four triples. The senior third baseman also posted 30 RBIs, a .548 slugging and .438 on-base percentages while batting mostly from the leadoff spot.

In a doubleheader against UT Arlington to conclude the regular season, the Missouri City, Texas native went a combined 3-for-9 with five RBIs, three runs scored and two home runs as Texas State clinched its first-ever Sun Belt regular season championship.

Reich was drafted by the Chicago White Sox with the 920th overall pick. He was named the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year and was a first team all-conference selection after going 8-2 with a 4.47 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 90.2 innings.

The Hallsville, Texas native picked up his second career Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week honor after the first weekend of the season in which he threw 6.2 scoreless innings, struck out seven and gave up just one hit in a 10-0 win over Missouri State. In a walk-off win over Arkansas State, the senior right-hander recorded 10 strikeouts for his third career double-digit strikeout contest.

With the selection of Fraze, McMahon and Reich, the Bobcats’ entire weekend rotation was drafted for the second time in program history with the only other time coming in 1992.

The four draftees are the second most for a Sun Belt program this year behind Coastal Carolina’s seven selections. The four picks are also tied for the fourth most Bobcats chosen in a single draft with 2009 and 1992.

McMahon Drafted in 9th Round: https://txstatebobcats.com/news/2019/6/4/baseball-nationals-draft-mcmahon-in-9th-round.aspx.

Nationals Draft McMahon in 9th Round

SAN MARCOS, Texas – In the ninth round of the Major League Baseball Draft, Texas State’s redshirt sophomore Hunter McMahon heard his named called as he was selected with the 273rd overall pick by the Washington Nationals.

The Kansas City, Missouri native is the earliest Bobcat selected in the MLB Draft since 2016 when Lucas Humpal was the 271st selection.

McMahon posted a 5-5 record with one save and a 4.72 ERA this season. The right-hander struck out 71 in 87.2 innings spanning 17 games, including 14 starts. He went the distance in two games, becoming the first TXST hurler to do so since 2016, and lead the team with three pickoffs.

One of McMahon’s best games this spring came at Louisiana. He went the distance in the contest with career-high 11 strikeouts in the 3-2 victory.

His lone save the year came in the Bobcats’ 5-3 win at 12th-ranked Texas A&M. McMahon needed just 13 pitches to complete a scoreless ninth inning that included a strikeout.

With his selection, it marks the 17th straight year a Bobcat has been taken in the MLB Draft. McMahon is also the 50th draft pick under head coach Ty Harrington.