OSU release – CORVALLIS, Ore. – Junior catcher Adley Rutschman has made Oregon State baseball history. Rutschman, a native of Sherwood, Ore., is the first player in the program’s history to be selected first overall in the MLB First-Year Player Draft when the Baltimore Orioles took him on Monday afternoon. Rutschman is the 12th Oregon State player to go in the first round; he’s the ninth since 2005 and the fifth since 2017. Rutschman just capped his junior season by batting .411 with 17 home runs, 58 runs batted in and a school-record 76 walks. He posted a .575 on-base percentage, which leads the nation, and a .751 slugging percentage. He was named the 2019 Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year and the co-recipient of the league’s Defensive Player of the Year honor. Collegiate Baseball named him its National Player of the Year last week and he is a finalist for a number of national awards, including Golden Spikes and the Dick Howser Trophy, and a semifinalist for the Buster Posey Award, given to the nation’s top catcher. As Rutschman’s collegiate career is likely complete, he will rank in the top 10 of just about every offensive category in the Oregon State record books. He is first in walks (156), second in runs batted in (174), third with 151 runs and 358 total bases, tied for fifth in hits (227) and home runs (28), ninth in slugging percentage (.561), 10th in batting average (.352) and tied for 10th in doubles (39). Rutschman is the third Oregon State student-athlete to ever be selected first overall. He joins football’s Terry Baker (1963 by the Los Angeles Rams) and men’s soccer’s Danny Mwanga (2010 by the Philadelphia Union). Rutschman is the second Beaver to go to Baltimore in the first round, following Cadyn Grenier last season. It is the second selection of Rutschman’s career. He was taken in the 40th round in 2016 by the Seattle Mariners.
