Pair Of Pitchers Selected In First Day Of MLB Draft

UC Santa Barbara's Joe Gardner (photo by Matt Brown)

UC Riverside's Joe Kelly

A pair of Big West pitchers were selected if the first day of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, with UC Santa Barbara's Joe Gardner (Fremont, Calif./Ohlone College) and UC Riverside’s Joe Kelly (Corona, Calif./Corona HS) picked in the third round.

Gardner, a First Team All-Big West member, was the 94th overall pick by the Cleveland Indians. The 6-5 right-hander led the Gaucho squad and ranked fifth in the conference with a 3.40 earned run average and 69 strikeouts. In 13 starts this season, Gardner tossed 84.2 innings en route to a 7-1 record. On May 9 versus Long Beach State, the junior college transfer earned Big West Player of the Week accolades after tossing a complete-game shutout where he allowed just two hits and struck out five.

Kelly, the St. Louis Cardinals' choice as the 98th pick, tallied 12 saves in 23 relief appearances this season to rank 17th in the country. In three seasons at UC Riverside, the 6-1 junior has tallied a school-record 24 career saves to rank eighth in the Big West annals. A member of the Highlander pitching staff that ranks 18th in the country with a 4.22 ERA, Kelly registered a 5.65 ERA and struck out 23 in 28.2 innings of work.

Rounds 4 through 30 are slated to begin on Wednesday at 9 am, and rounds 31-50 are set for Thursday beginning at 8:30 am.