June 11, 2009

NEW YORK -- For the second day in a row, two Louisiana Tech baseball players were selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft as Bulldog signee Taylor Terrasas was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 33rd round (995th overall) and Chris Kersten was picked by the Cleveland Indians in the 39th round (1179th overall) on Thursday.

Terrasas was chosen as a shortstop and Kersten was selected as a third baseman.

Terrasas lettered four years at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas. The 5-10, 165-pound second baseman/shortstop was named first team all-district and first team all-county his junior year.

After having a solid campaign in 2008 where he batted .292 with 13 home runs and 51 RBI, Kersten had a career-year this past season for the Bulldogs. The shortstop/third baseman finished the year with the third-best batting average on the team at .372. He collected 71 hits, 20 doubles, two triples, 18 home runs and 58 RBI. His 20 doubles tied the Tech single-season record that was previously held by Brandon Haygood and Dave Brennan. The senior from Kiowa, Kan. also walked 17 times and was hit by pitch in a team-high 11 occasions. As a reward for his consistent performance during Western Athletic Conference play, he was named Second Team All-WAC.

As a result of Kersten's opening weekend series against Grambling State this past season, he collected hitter of the week awards from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, the WAC and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. The College Baseball Foundation also honored him by naming Kersten to its National All-Star Lineup. Against Grambling State, the slugger went 7-for-10 with nine runs scored, 13 RBI, three doubles and four home runs.

On Wednesday, LA Tech signee Trevor Petersen and Kevin Winn were drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres, respectively.

Since 2000, 16 former Bulldogs, including Kersten and Winn, have been selected in the MLB Draft.