RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech outfielder Cole McConnell was selected by the Chicago White Sox as the 289th pick on day two of the 2024 MLB draft. 

McConnell is currently the sixth consecutive Tech player to be drafted in the first ten rounds of the MLB Draft dating back to 2021. The Texas native joins Landon Tompkins (Pittsburgh Pirates, 287th) and Cade Gibson (Miami Marlins, 292nd) as the last three Tech players to be taken in the tenth round. For the first time in program history, Tech has had four consecutive years of a player being drafted in the first ten rounds of the MLB Draft. 

In his senior year, McConnell led Tech in batting with a .378 average, slugging percentage of .671, and on-base percentage of .461. In addition to his 18 home runs and 94 hits, he also had 71 RBI  in 2024. McConnell was eight hits shy of breaking the single-season hits record of 101 set by Hunter Wells and six RBI shy of breaking his single-season RBI record in 2022.

McConnell batted in a career-high four homeruns on March 23 in a doubleheader matchup against Jacksonville State, in which he had one moonshot in game one and three in game two. He also had a 26-game on-base reach streak, the longest streak of any Tech player in 2024, and a 15-game hitting streak to go along with it. 

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