BOCA RATON, Fla. – (June 5, 2019) – Wednesday’s final day of the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft saw four more Florida Atlantic University Owls come off the board for a total of five in the three-day proceedings. Two juniors – Mike Ruff (11th round) and Eric Rivera (14th round) – were followed by seniors Vince Coletti (17th round) and Blake Sanderson (31st round) to wrap the annual event.
Ruff went in the very first round of the day, and overall pick No. 339 to the Rockies. He becomes just the second Owl taken by the organization, following Kyle Newton in the 19th round in 2012.
Rivera was picked early on in the 14th, as the 10th pick in the round and 417th overall. He is the sixth FAU player ever drafted by the team, including 33rd round choice Matt Harris a year ago.
Coletti, who wrapped up his eligibility this year, was selected by the A’s as their 17th round selection, going 524th overall. Oakland last took an Owl – and future big leaguer – in Mickey Storey in 2008, and prior to Storey, only one other former FAU player (Daniel Jackson in 2000).
Following in Rivera’s footsteps, Sanderson (a fifth-year senior and team captain this past season) was also picked by MLB’s only Canadian organization, as he went No. 927 to the Blue Jays as, now, their seventh chosen Owl.
The quartet joins Pedro Pages, taken Tuesday in the sixth round by the St. Louis Cardinals, as draftees from the 2019 squad. A total of 99 Owls have now been drafted all-time, 35 under Head Coach John McCormack’s tutelage. Again, that is now 14 consecutive drafts – and 20 of the last 21 – featuring FAU selections.
– FAUSports.com –
Florida Atlantic University Athletics:
FAU Athletics is comprised of 21 intercollegiate teams involving 450 student-athletes that compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, volleyball, beach volleyball, cheer and dance. The Owls are a NCAA Division I-A (FBS) institution and compete in Conference USA and the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) (beach volleyball, men’s swimming). The Owls have been playing football since 2001 and are a perfect 3-0 in bowl games, the most recent being a 50-3 victory over Akron in the 2017 Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl. The dance team finished its 2014 season No. 8, nationally. FAU cheer won a national championship in 2016.
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
