Courtesy of GoXavier.com
SECAUCUS, N.J. – Xavier baseball junior third baseman Rylan Bannon became the second Musketeer drafted in 2017 in the eighth round when he was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 250th overall pick in the MLB First Year Player Draft on Tuesday, June 13.
Bannon was named the 2017 BIG EAST Player of the Year and put together a standout performance in the NCAA Tournament as XU qualified for a second straight regional final in Louisville.
The junior third baseman made several spectacular defensive plays at the Louisville Regional, while also putting together a .563 (9-of-16) batting average in XU’s four games. Bannon has performed against high-level pitching in each of XU’s trips to the national tournament, batting .455 in eight NCAA Tournament games with three home runs, and 12 RBI.
He finished the 2017 season with a .339 batting average, 15 homers, 50 RBI and a BIG EAST-leading .633 slugging percentage. Bannon’s 15 homers were tied for third-most in a single season in XU program history.
DRAFTING MUSKETEERS
• Zac Lowther was the highest-ever selection by a Xavier baseball player on Monday night, going in the second round compensatory selections. XU’s previous high pick was Seth Willoughby, who was drafted in the fourth round in 2012 by the Colorado Rockies.
• With Rylan Bannon’s selection, Xavier has now had two players selected in the MLB First-Year Player Draft in consecutive years. In 2016, Dan Rizzie went to the New York Mets in the 13th round and Andre Jernigan followed as a 14th round selection of the Minnesota Twins.
• Xavier has had at least one player drafted in 11 of the last 13 years.
• 14 total XU players have been drafted since 2005.
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