BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Zach Arneson, Jason Kudlock and Mickey Jannis became the first Roadrunner baseball players to gain a shot at the big leagues after each was selected in the 2010 MLB First Year Players Draft.
Arneson, a junior who transferred to CSUB from Bakersfield College for the 2010 season, was selected Tuesday by the San Francisco Giants in the 21st round. The 6–2, 190-pound right-handed reliever made 19 total appearances out of the bullpen, his best in a 13-9 win over Loyola Marymount on May 26. He pitched 4.2 innings hitless innings while striking out three. He also had four strikeouts in 1.1 innings of relief on May 20 at TCU.
Kudlock, a senior utility player from Chandler, Ariz., was the 36th round pick by the Texas Rangers. This past spring he hit .364 (80-for-220) with 17 doubles, six triples, eight home runs, 40 runs and 51 RBIs. He carried a 17-game hit streak midway though the season and concluded the year with a seven-game streak. He had 27 multi-hit games, including once hitting two doubles, once hitting two triples and once hitting two home runs.
Jannis, a senior RHP from Sparks, Nev., was selected in the 44th round by the Tampa Bay Rays. The Roadrunners' Friday starter throughout 2010, he was 4-5 with a 4.74 ERA. Jannis struck out 65 in 98.2 innings, including a career high 10 in seven innings of work in a May 14 win over Pacific.
The Roadrunners also had one early signee for the 2011 season selected in the draft. Shortstop Nick Bartolone out of Chabot College in Hayward was selected in the sixth round by the Cleveland Indians. Arneson, Kudlock and Jannis represent the first CSUB athletes to be selected in a professional league draft since men's soccer player Joe Muñoz in 1998 and men's basketball player Kebu Stewart in 1997.
