June 8, 2010

Long Beach, Calif. - On the second day of the Major League Baseball first-year player draft, Long Beach State had five players selected, one day after the first round was completed on its own.

Junior Jake Thompson was the highest player selected, the 66th overall selection in the draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays, already home to former Dirtbag Evan Longoria, took Thompson in the second round, where he was the third player from the Big West chosen.

Thompson is the sixth Long Beach State pitcher picked in the first two rounds since 2003. Five of those players (Abe Alvarez, 2nd, 2003; Jered Weaver, 1st, 2004; Jason Vargas, 2nd, 2004; Cesar Ramos, 1st, 2005; Andrew Carpenter, 2nd, 2006;) have played in the Major Leagues, while the sixth and most recent, Bryan Shaw, a 2008 selectee, is pitching in AA.

Shortstop Devin Lohman was also chosen in the first 100 picks, going 94th overall to the Cincinnati Reds. Lohman joins a number of other highly drafted Dirtbags to play shortstop from "Shortstop U", including Danny Espinosa (3rd, 2008), Evan Longoria (1st, 2006), Troy Tulowitzki (1st, 2005), Bobby Crosby (1st, 2001) and Chris Gomez (3rd, 1992).

Lohman was the first Dirtbag player since 1998 to hit over .400 for a season, finishing the 2010 campaign hitting .404, the ninth player in Long Beach State history to hit over .400 on the way to earning second-team All-Big West honors.

Third baseman Joey Terdoslavich was also picked on Tuesday, going in the sixth round to the Atlanta Braves. A redshirt sophomore, Terdoslavich was eligible due to his redshirt year following his first season at Miami (Fla.). Terdoslavich led Long Beach State with seven home runs in 2010, hitting .326 on the year.

Jason Markovitz was picked in the 13th round by the Seattle Marniers, the 402nd overall pick in the 2010 draft. The left-handed pitcher, after returning for his senior year with Long Beach State, set a career-high with 25 appearances, lowered his career ERA to 3.09 after four seasons with the Dirtbags, and finished his career with 69 appearances, ninth-most of any pitcher in Long Beach State history.

The fifth and final Dirtbag selected on day two was outfielder Jonathan Jones. A junior, Jones hit over .300 for the third straight year as a starter for Long Beach State, finishing at .318 in 2010 while hitting a career-high three home runs and playing perfect defense in the outfield, with no errors on the season.

In what would traditionally have been included in the first day of the draft, the five players selected is the most since 2008, when the Dirtbags had a school record 11 players picked in the first 25 rounds.

DRAFT LIST
Jake Thompson, 2nd Round, Tampa Bay (66)
Devin Lohman, 3rd Round, Cincinnati Reds (94)
Joey Terdoslavich, 6th Round, Atlanta Braves (194)
Jason Markovitz, 13th Round, Seattle Mariners (402)
Jonathan Jones, 29th Round, Toronto Blue Jays (876)