BATON ROUGE — The Cleveland Indians selected LSU junior lefthander Brian Tallet as the 55th of 1510 picks in the 2000 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft as the first 20 rounds were held by phone on Monday. One one Tiger, Billy Brian, was taken on day two of the draft.
LSU catchers Brad Cresse and Ryan Jorgensen were chosen in the fifth and seventh rounds by the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Chicago Cubs, respectively.
Cedrick Harris became the fourth Tiger to be drafted in the first 10 rounds as he was also picked by the Diamondbacks as the 309th pick overall and the second-to-last pick in the 10th round.
First baseman Brad Hawpe was taken shortly after as the 317th pick overall and the seventh pick of the 11th round of the draft by the Colorado Rockies.
Relief pitcher Heath McMurray, a hard-throwing junior out of Splendora, Texas, was drafted 351st overall in the 12th round by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Senior righthander Trey Hodges was takes as the 520th pick overall and the last pick of the 17th round by the Atlanta Braves.
On the draft’s second day (rounds 21-35), sophomore righthander Billy Brian was selected in the 25th round by the Kansas City Royals. He was the 734th pick overall.
Tallet (14-3, 3.16 ERA), a native of Bethany, Okla., is the ace pitcher of the College World Series bound Tigers. He was the winning pitcher of game one of the NCAA Super Regional against UCLA this past weekend in Baton Rouge.
Tallet was the third Southeastern Conference player taken in the 2000 MLB draft. Chris Bootchec of Auburn was selected by the Anaheim Angels as the 20th pick of the first round and South Carolina’s Peter Bauer as chosen by Toronto as the 45th pick overall.
Cresse was the 159th pick overall and the second-to-last pick of the fifth round by the Diamondbacks while Jorgensen was the 193rd pick overall and the third pick of the second round.
Cresse, a senior and First-Team All-American from Seal Beach, Calif., leads the 2000 Tigers in most offensive categories. He enters the CWS with a .400 batting average (104 of 260), 30 home runs, 104 RBI, 20 doubles and an .823 slugging percentage.
Cresse stands sixth on the NCAA career home runs list with 78, two behind former Tiger Eddy Furniss for the school record.
Jorgensen, a junior college transfer out of Kingwood, Texas, split catching duties this season with Cresse and batted .302 (35 of 116) with four home runs and 23 RBI. He is a tremendous defensive catcher with a great arm behind the plate. Jorgensen gunned down 16 of 32 attempted steals in 2000.
Harris, a junior who plays center field for the SEC Tournament Champions, battled through a wrist injury that caused him to miss more than a month of playing time. However, he came back to finish second on the LSU team with a .379 batting average.
Hawpe, a junior out of Fort Worth, Texas, holds the LSU record for doubles in a season with 35 and is one double short of the NCAA record which he hopes to break in the upcoming CWS. Hawpe batted .360 this season with 98 hits.
McMurray, a righthander, had a 2-3 record in 18 appearances in 2000. Hodges appeared in 17 games and started six for the Tigers in 2000. He recorded a 3-2 record with a 6.02 ERA.
Brian has a 6-2 record in 2000 with a 4.23 ERA in 16 appearances. He pitched four innings of LSU’s second Super Regional victory over UCLA on June 3, allowing only three hits in the 14-8 win that sent LSU to the CWS.
Please check back later for a complete list of Tigers chosen in the draft. The 50-round draft continues through Wednesday, June 7.
| DAY 1 | |||||
| Rd. (Pk) | Name | Pos. | Cl. | Team | 2000 Stats |
| 2nd (55) | Brian Tallet | LHP | Jr. | Indians | 14-3, 3.16 ERA |
| 5th (159) | Brad Cresse | C | Sr. | Diamondbacks | .400, 30 HR |
| 7th (193) | Ryan Jorgensen | C | Jr. | Cubs | .302, 16 of 32 CS |
| 10th (309) | Cedrick Harris | OF | Jr. | Diamondbacks | .379, 35 RBI |
| 11th (317) | Brad Hawpe | 1B | Jr. | Rockies | .360, 35 2B |
| 12th (351) | Heath McMurray | RHP | Jr. | Brewers | 2-3, 18 app. |
| 17th (520) | Trey Hodges | RHP | Sr. | Braves | 3-2, 17 app. |
| DAY 2 | |||||
| Rd. (Pk) | Name | Pos. | Cl. | Team | 2000 Stats |
| 25th (734) | Billy Brian | RHP | So. | Royals | 6-2, 4.23 ERA |
| DAY 1 | ||||
| Rd. (Pk) | Name | Pos. | Team | School/Hometown |
| 1st (9) | Mark Philips | LHP | Padres | Hanover HS; Hanover, Pa. |
| 1st (11) | David Krynzel | OF | Brewers | Green Valley HS; Henderson, Nev |
| 2nd (50) | Jared Abruzzo | C | Angles | El Capitan HS; La Mesa, Calif. |
| 2nd (66) | Mark Folsom | OF | Indians | West Orange HS; Winter Garden, Fla. |
| 3rd (79) | Omar Falcon | C | Padres | Miami Southridge HS; Miami, Fla. |
| 4th (102) | Jason Miller | LHP | Twins | Sarasota HS; Sarasota, Fla. |
| 4th (124) | Laynce Nix | OF | Rangers | Midland HS; Midland, Texas |
| 4th (125) | Brandon Wilson | C | Mets | Christian Life; Baton Rouge, La. |
| 5th (144) | Doug Gredvig | 1B | Orioles | Sacramento CC; Roseville, Calif. |
| 7th (200) | Aaron Hill | SS | Angles | Redwood HS; Redwood, Calif. |
| 8th (244) | Nick Masset | RHP | Rangers | Pinellas HS; Largo, Fla. |
| 9th (255) | Benji Dequin | LHP | Expos | Gilroy HS; Gilroy, Calif. |
| 16th (466) | Jamie Shields | RHP | D’Rays | Hart HS; Valencia, Calif. |
| 16th (467) | Jose Vasquez | 1B | Rockies | Booker HS; Sarasota, Fla. |
| 17th (500) | Mike Napoli | 1B/C | Angles | Pembroke Pines; Cooper City, Fla. |
| 20th (606) | Ryan Larson | P | Indians | Sacramento City CC; Rocklin, Calif. |
| DAY 2 | ||||
| Rd. (Pk) | Name | Pos. | Team | School/Hometown |
| 30th (906) | Brian Wilson | RHP | Indians | Londonberry HS; Londonberry, N.H. |
| 35th(1048) | Blake Gill | 2B | Bl. Jays | Manatee HS; Bradenton, Fla. |
| 39th (1175) | Brendan Winn | OF | Mets | Merritt Island HS; Indian Harbor, Fla. |