NEW ORLEANS – A total of 29 Sun Belt Conference baseball student-athletes were drafted this week in the 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft. Eight student-athletes were chosen on day two and an additional 21 were selected on the draft's final day.
Arkansas State's Tyler Zuber was the first Sun Belt baseball student-athlete to hear his named called going in the sixth round to the Kansas City Royals. In addition, Coastal Carolina's Billy Cooke and Alex Cunningham, Georgia Southern's Landon Hughes and Jordan Wren along with South Alabama's Jared Barnes and Randy Bell and UTA's Austin Gardner were all picked on day two.
Appalachian State's Matt Brill was the first Sun Belt baseball student-athlete to go on the draft's final day as he was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 12th round. Louisiana's Steven Sensley went just ten picks later in the same round to the New York Yankees.
Coastal Carolina led all Sun Belt teams with six total selections in this year's draft. The Chanticleers had six players taken during last year's draft bringing together a total of 12 from their national championship team in 2016. Georgia Southern had five players taken which was the program's highest number of draftees since 1996.
2017 MLB Draftees
Tyler Zuber, RHP, Arkansas State
Round 6 - Pick 180
Kansas City Royals
Landon Hughes, RHP, Georgia Southern
Round 7 - Pick 200
Atlanta Braves
Jared Barnes, C, South Alabama
Round 8 - Pick 239
Miami Marlins
Billy Cooke, OF, Coastal Carolina
Round 8 - Pick 243
Seattle Mariners
Alex Cunningham, RHP, Coastal Carolina
Round 9 - Pick 258
San Diego Padres
Austin Gardner, RHP, UTA
Round 9 - Pick 272
New York Yankees
Randy Bell, RHP, South Alabama
Round 10 - Pick 303
Seattle Mariners
Jorden Wren, OF, Georgia Southern
Round 10 - Pick 311
Boston Red Sox
Matt Brill, RHP, Appalachian State
Round 12 - Pick 352
Arizona Diamondbacks
Steven Sensley, OF, Louisiana
Round 12 - Pick 362
New York Yankees
Connor Simmons, LHP, Georgia Southern
Round 13 - Pick 380
Atlanta Braves
Wyatt Marks, RHP, Louisiana
Round 13 - Pick 381
Oakland Athletics
Theodore Hoffman, OF, Texas State
Round 15 - Pick 455
Detroit Tigers
Will Latcham, RHP, Coastal Carolina
Round 17 - Pick 514
St. Louis Cardinals
Jordan Gore, INF, Coastal Carolina
Round 19 - Pick 556
Minnesota Twins
Jakob Hernandez, LHP, UTA
Round 21 - Pick 623
Philadelphia Phillies
Logan Baldwin, OF, Georgia Southern
Round 21 - Pick 636
San Francisco Giants
Bryce Conley, RHP, Georgia State
Round 22 - Pick 651
Oakland Athletics
Matt Peacock, RHP, South Alabama
Round 23 - Pick 682
Arizona Diamondbacks
Evan Guillory, RHP, Louisiana
Round 23 - Pick 694
St. Louis Cardinals
Gunner Leger, LHP, Louisiana
Round 26 - Pick 779
Miami Marlins
Wood Myers, INF, Coastal Carolina
Round 29 - Pick 874
St. Louis Cardinals
Chandler Seagle, C, Appalachian State
Round 30 - Pick 888
San Diego Padres
Andrew Beckwith, RHP, Coastal Carolina
Round 32 - Pick 906
Kansas City Royals
Cameron Knight, C, Little Rock
Round 32 - Pick 964
St. Louis Cardinals
Jacob Condra-Bogan, RHP, Georgia Southern
Round 32 - Pick 969
Toronto Blue Jays
Cory Malcom, RHP, Little Rock
Round 34 - Pick 1,024
St. Louis Cardinals
Brady Cox, C, UTA
Round 36 - Pick 1,080
Kansas City Royals
Nathan Reynolds, INF, ULM
Round 39 - 1,162
Arizona Diamondbacks