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Lange, Deichmann Selected on Day 1 of MLB Draft

by LSUsports.net (@LSUsports)
LSU's Draft History 2017 MLB Draft Tracker +0
Lange, Deichmann Selected on Day 1 of MLB Draft

BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU pitcher Alex Lange and outfielder Greg Deichmann have been selected Monday night during the first day of the 2017 MLB Draft.

Lange was selected in the first round (selection No. 30) by the Chicago Cubs and Deichmann was chosen in the second round (selection No. 43) by the Oakland Athletics.

Lange, a right-hander from Lee’s Summit, Mo., is the SEC strikeouts leader this season with 134. He has a 9-5 record and a 2.92 ERA in 111 innings while limiting opponents to a .233 batting average.

Lange enters the College World Series with 390 career strikeouts and is in second place on the all-time LSU list, trailing only first-place Scott Schultz (409 Ks, 1992-95). A second-team All-American and first-team All-SEC pitcher this season and the National Freshman Pitcher of the Year in 2015, he has a 29-9 career mark at LSU.

The selection of Lange marks the seventh time in nine seasons an LSU player has been chosen in the first round of the MLB Draft.

Outfielder Jared Mitchell was the 23rd overall selection in 2009 by the Chicago White Sox, pitcher Anthony Ranaudo was the 39th overall choice in 2010 by the Boston Red Sox, outfielder Mikie Mahtook was the 31st overall selection in 2011 by the Tampa Bay Rays, pitcher Kevin Gausman was the fourth overall choice in 2012 by the Baltimore Orioles, pitcher Aaron Nola was the seventh overall selection by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2014, and infielder Alex Bregman was the second overall choice by the Houston Astros in 2015.

Deichmann, a native of Metairie, La., is a 2017 first-team All-American and first-team all-SEC selection who is batting .320 this season with 12 doubles, 19 homers, 72 RBI and 451 runs. He is No. 2 in the SEC this season in RBI, No. 3 in homers, No. 4 in total bases (146) and No. 5 in slugging percentage (.606).

Deichmann was named to the 2017 SEC All-Tournament team after hitting .467 (7-for-15) in four games with one double, two homers, four RBI and three runs.

Deichmann increased his stock dramatically by returning to LSU for his junior season after he was selected in the 26th round last year by the Minnesota Twins as a draft-eligible sophomore.

Deichmann was the 29th LSU player to earn first-team All-America honors, and he is the 11th first-team All-American during the 11-season tenure of coach Paul Mainieri.