BATON ROUGE — Two more members of LSU’s 2009 National Championship baseball team ? pitcher Nolan Cain and catcher/first baseman Sean Ochinko ? have embarked upon their professional careers.
Cain, a senior right-hander from Cantonment, Fla., signed a free-agent deal with the Detroit Tigers and is pitching for the Lakeland (Fla.) Flying Tigers in the Class A Advanced Florida State League.
Ochinko, the 11th-round draft selection of the Toronto Blue Jays, signed a contract with the club on Wednesday and has been assigned to the Auburn (N.Y.) Doubledays in the Class A New York-Penn League.
Cain and Ochinko increase to three the number of ’09 Tigers that have entered the pro ranks. Former LSU outfielder Jared Mitchell, the first-round draft choice of the Chicago White Sox, signed with the Sox on Wednesday and has been assigned to the Class A Kannapolis (N.C.) Intimidators.
Cain was 5-0 with a 4.01 ERA in 19 appearances (two starts) this season for LSU, recording 10 walk and 38 strikeouts in 33.2 innings. He was especially effective in postseason play, posting a 1-0 mark and a 1.80 ERA in four appearances. Cain worked 10 postseason innings, allowing just two runs on seven hits with 12 strikeouts.
Cain fired 3.1 shutout innings with four strikeouts in Game 2 of the College World Series Championship Finals versus Texas.
Ochinko, a junior from Parkland, Fla., was LSU’s third-leading hitter this season, batting .333 (78-for-234) with 15 doubles, nine homers, 46 runs and 57 RBI. He was the Tigers’ top hitter in postseason games, batting .362 (17-for-47) with three doubles, two homers, seven runs and 13 RBI.
Ochinko hit .368 (7-for-19) in the College World Series with one double, two homers, seven RBI and four runs. He helped lead LSU to the national title in his final collegiate contest, going 4-for-5 with a homer and three RBI in the deciding game of the CWS Championship Finals versus Texas.