Major League Baseball Nabs 46 Big West Players In 2009 Draft

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

The Big West Conference had 46 players selected in the three-day, 50-round Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft with UC Santa Barbara's Joe Gardner being the conference's first player taken, 94th pick in the third round by the Cleveland Indians. The league opened the first two days with 34 players drafted and followed that up with 12 nabbed in the final day of the 2009 MLB draft.

Gardner, a junior college transfer from Fremont, Calif., was the first of a school-record nine Gauchos drafted to pace the league. The previous high came in 2001 when seven UCSB players were chosen in the draft. Teammate Ryan Cavan was the second UCSB player selected, going to the San Francisco Giants in the 16th round (477 overall). Cavan was an All-Big West Honorable Mention selection following a season in which he hit .341 and led the team with his .435 on-base percentage. UCSB's leading hitter, Matt Valaika, was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 20th round, 599 overall, after hitting a team-high .343 with a .545 slugging percentage.

Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton each had two players drafted on the final day to join UC Riverside with seven total draft selections. The Highlanders had seven players selected in the second day, six of which were pitchers. Like UC Santa Barbara, the Mustangs set a school record with their seven draft picks. Junior Adam Buschini was the first Mustang selected, going in the fourth round by the Philadelphia Phillies, the 137th overall selection.

The 2009 Big West Champion, UC Irvine, saw five players drafted with Big West Player of the Year Ben Orloff being the first Anteater named. The senior shortstop went in the ninth round, as the 281st pick, to the Houston Astros.

Cal State Northridge and Long Beach State had four selections apiece and UC Davis saw three Aggies chosen in the 2009 MLB Draft.

Big West Players Selected In 2009 MLB Draft

Player, School - Rd.(Pick), Club
Joe Gardner, UC Santa Barbara - 3rd (94th), Cleveland Indians
Joe Kelly, UC Riverside - 3rd (98th), St. Louis Cardinals
Adam Buschini, Cal Poly - 4th (137th), Philadelphia Phillies
Josh Fellhauer, Cal State Fullerton - 7th (209th), Cincinnati Reds
Khris Davis, Cal State Fullerton - 7th (226th), Milwaukee Brewers
Brian Slover, Cal State Northridge - 8th (250th), Toronto Blue Jays
Ben Orloff, UC Irvine - 9th (281st), Houston Astros
Paul Applebee, UC Riverside - 10th (292nd), Washington Nationals
Charlie Ruiz, Long Beach State - 10th (301st), Colorado Rockies
Andrew Suiter, UC Davis - 10th (307th), Los Angeles Dodgers
Matthew Montgomery, UC Riverside - 10th (308th), Florida Marlins
Adam Wilk, Long Beach State - 11th (330th), Detroit Tigers
Jared Clark, Cal State Fullerton - 12th (361st), Colorado Rockies
Ty Kelly, UC Davis - 13th (386th) - Baltimore Orioles
Paul Bargas, UC Riverside - 13th (391st) - Colorado Rockies
Kyle Smith, Cal Poly - 14th (425th), Cleveland Indians
Ryan Cavan, UC Santa Barbara - 16th (477th), San Francisco Giants
Daniel Bibona, UC Irvine - 16th (489th), St. Louis Cardinals
Carl Uhl, UC Riverside - 18th (557th), Philadelphia Phillies
Dustin Garneau, Cal State Fullerton - 19th (571st), Colorado Rockies
Matt Valaika, UC Santa Barbara - 20th (599th), Cincinnati Reds
Thomas Mackoul, UC Riverside - 20th (612th), Minnesota Twins
Richard Cates, Cal State Northridge - 21st (651st), Los Angeles Angels
David Born, Long Beach State - 22nd (661st), Colorado Rockies
Cory Hamilton, UC Irvine - 23rd (690th), Detroit Tigers
Jeff Pruitt, Cal State Northridge - 23rd (710th), Chicago Cubs
Mario Hollands, UC Santa Barbara - 24th (732nd), Minnesota Twins
Eric Massingham, Cal Poly - 25th (767th), Philadelphia Phillies
Kevin Castner, Cal Poly - 26th (784th), Texas Rangers
Brian Gump, UC Santa Barbara - 26th (797th), Philadelphia Phillies
Ryan Platt, UC Riverside - 27th (826th), Milwaukee Brewers
Robert Cummings, UC Santa Barbara - 28th (853rd), Chicago White Sox
Michael Morrison, Cal State Fullerton - 29th (870th), Detroit Tigers
Jared Eskew, Cal Poly - 29th (878th), Florida Marlins
Shane Carlson, UC Santa Barbara - 32nd (959th), Cincinnati Reds
Ryan McCarney, Cal State Northridge - 33rd (1009th), Tampa Bay Rays
Forest Cannon, UC Santa Barbara - 34th (1019th), Cincinnati Reds
Tyler Topp, Long Beach State - 35th (1058th), Florida Marlins
Ryan Scoma, UC Davis - 36th (1077th), San Francisco Giants
Eric Oliver, UC Santa Barbara - 36th (1101st), Anaheim Angels
Casey Stevenson, UC Irvine - 38th (1156th), Milwaukee Brewers
Brian Hernandez, UC Irvine - 39th (1175th), Cleveland Indians
Kyle Witten, Cal State Fullerton - 41st (1223rd), Seattle Mariners
Ryan Lee, Cal Poly - 41st (1243rd), Chicago White Sox
Joe Scott, Cal State Fullerton - 42nd (1261st), Colorado Rockies
D.J. Gentile, Cal Poly - 43rd (1295th), Cleveland Indians