From the classroom to the playing field, students are the talent magnet. If you can name a sport, chances are that SUNY offers it in some capacity–ranging from intramural and club sports to nationally-ranked DI NCAA sports teams.
The wide range of SUNY athletics teams have a complementary wide range of success stories–from Onondaga Community College‘s Men’s Lacrosse Team being undefeated for 87 consecutive games (and counting) to the University at Buffalo hosting a first-round NFL Draft pick in spring 2014.
With all of the talent across New York, it comes as no surprise that five SUNY student athletes have been named in the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft.
Mike Burke // University at Buffalo // Baltimore Orioles
Switching between pitching and shortstop, Burke had one of the best seasons in program history in 2013, setting multiple records in the former position. He won eight games where he threw for 101.2 innings over 14 starts. He threw three complete-game shutouts, striking out 75 batters only allowing just a .222 batting average. Burke was named one of the leagues top pitchers, where he received the Robin Roberts award for his talents.
Tyler Mautner // University at Buffalo // Minnesota Twins
This past season, Mautner batted .337, hitting 17 doubles, and batting in 52 runs to help Buffalo once again enter into the Mid American Conference tournament. In 2013, he had a come back season batting .295 setting a single-season record with 23 doubles. From his 2013 bounce-back season, he was named to several prestigious teams where he and his team won the Far West League’s Triple Crown.
Kevin Krause // Stony Brook University // Pittsburgh Pirates
Krause was this year named Louisville Slugger third-team All-America and America East Player of the Year. He has a .341 batting average leading the America East with seven home runs, 44 RBI, a .517 slugging percentage and 91 total bases. In his three-year career with Stony Brook spanning 132 games, Krause is a career .325 hitter with 11 home runs ,30 doubles, 97 RBI and 88 runs scored. In 2012, he was a first-team freshman All-American and first-team All-Northeast Region while hitting .330 with three home runs and 40 RBI and was a part of the Stony Brook team that reached the College World Series.
Steve Ascher // SUNY Oneonta // Tampa Bay Rays
Ascher, a pitcher, went 6-4 with a total of 69.1 innings pitched, 82 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.69 this year. He was named SUNY Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year in 2014 and was also named to the SUNYAC All-Tournament Team in 2012.
Bill Bereszniewicz // Binghamton University // Los Angeles Dodgers
Bereszniewicz, a four-year starter for the Bearcats, led the America East Conference with a batting average of .367 and setting multiple single-season records for hits (77) and stolen bases (23). From this, he earned his first all-conference honors as a center fielder this season. He had 24 multi-hit games as a senior, and led the Bearcats with a slugging percentage of .471 and an on-base percentage of .428. He finished his career with the second-highest stolen base total of 42 stolen bases in the program’s Division I history. He was also sixth all-time in hits in the program’s history with 208.
Congratulations!
Top photo via the Stony Brook Statesman
This is great news! Watch the upcoming NBA Draft and see a former SUNY Graduate go in the 1st. Round! 2012 SUNY Sullivan Graduate and 2-time NJCAA National Player of the Year Cleanthony Early (Witchita State University). We believe he may be the first SUNY Graduate ever to be drafted to the NBA…..