Louisiana senior pitcher Zach Osborne, redshirt sophomore pitcher Dayton Marze and senior catcher Chad Keefer were taken on day two of the the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday.
Osborne was taken in the ninth round by the Texas Rangers with the 286th overall pick. Marze was taken by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 14th round with the 426th overall pick. Keefer was selected by the Florida Marlins in the 28th round using the 857th overall pick.
Osborne, the staff ace in 2010, is only five days removed from tossing just the second complete game shutout by a Cajuns pitcher in NCAA Tournament history, doing so against No. 25 Rice in the Austin Regional opener last Friday.
Osborne's selection is the highest for a Cajun since Jonathan Lucroy was selected in the third round by Milwaukee in 2007. It's the highest selection for a Cajuns pitcher since Patrick Green was taken in the seventh round in 2004 (Kansas City).
Marze, a Teurlings Catholic product, enjoyed a breakout season in 2010 as one of Louisiana's top releivers as he made three times as many appearances from his freshman season and logged 50 1/3 innings. Marze has two years of eligiblity remaining with the Cajuns.
Keefer caught all 60 games for the Ragin' Cajuns in 2010. He led the squad in home runs (15) and RBI (58) and was the second-leading hitter with a .325 average.
Tuesday's selections mark the 29th consecutive year (1982-present) that at least one Ragin' Cajun has been drafted. Louisiana had multiple draftees for the first time since 2008 and it was the first time since 2007 that at least three Cajuns were drafted in the same season.
Osborne, Marze and Keefer are the 37th, 38th and 39th Cajuns players, respectively, (40th, 41st and 42nd selections) coached by Tony Robichaux to be selected in the MLB Draft.
Osborne, a 2010 All-Sun Belt First Team selection, posted a 9-4 record on the mound in the 2010 season finishing with a 2.37 ERA and 112 strikeouts over 121 2/3 innings pitched. He crafted 14 quality starts (of 16 total) and tossed five complete games (two shutouts).
He went the entire season with an ERA below 3.00 - highest mark was 2.65 - and held opponents to a .222 batting average. He issued only 21 walks and surrendered just 32 earned runs over 121 1/3 innings.
Osborne led all Sun Belt Conference starting pitchers in ERA and strikeouts and his seven league victories ranked first. He ranked in the Top 30 nationally in strikeouts and ERA.
He held opponents to three earned runs or less in 14 of 16 starts and allowed a three-run inning only five times all season. His five complete games were the most by a Cajuns pitcher since Buddy Glass and Hunter Moody threw five in 2006 and the nine victories were the most since Moody won nine games in 2008.
Osborne finished his two-year stay at UL with a 14-7 career record and 2.81 career ERA. In 205 1/3 innings pitched in a Cajuns uniform he held opponents to 185 hits, 64 earned runs, posted 179 strikeouts and only issued 35 walks.
Marze made 18 appearances in 2010, posting a 5-4 mark and 3.22 ERA. He led all Ragin' Cajuns relievers with five victories and allowed only 12 extra base hits over 50 1/3 innings pitched.
Marze logged three-plus innings in relief nine times, each time allowing one or no earned runs. He posted multiple strikeouts in nine of 18 appearances and carried a sub-4.00 ERA the entire season.
Marze earned three innings saves against Le Moyne and Middle Tennessee plus he pitched six innings in relief for a win at New Orleans and 3 1/3 for a win over Western Kentucky on May 15.
Keefer led Louisiana in RBI for the second straight season. In his two-year stay after coming over from North Central Texas College, Keefer posted 105 RBI.
The Sasakwa, Okla., native was a second team All-Sun Belt selection and led the league with 20 runners caught stealing. Keefer sported a team-best 10 home runs and 35 RBI in Cajuns' strong second half run.
Keefer finished the season with 28 extra base hits (13 doubles, 15 home runs). In SBC play, he hit .366 and led the league in runs scored (33), home runs (14), total bases (93), slugging percentage (.756) and was second in RBI (35).
Keefer recorded a 22-game hitting streak March 6-April 9 - one shy of school record and just the seventh 20-plus game streak in program history.
The draft concludes Wednesday with rounds 31-50.
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