San Diego State junior Royce Ring was selected by the Chicago White Sox as the 18th pick of the first round in the annual major league draft on Tuesday. He was one of seven Aztecs taken in the opening 15 rounds on the first day of the annual selection process.
Ring, a left-handed relief specialist from La Mesa (Monte Vista HS), completed his third season at SDSU with a record of 5-1, 17 saves, and a 1.85 earned run average. Along the way, he set new school marks for saves in a season and career saves (26) while earning first team all-Mountain West Conference recognition.
He becomes the sixth San Diego State player to be selected in the first round of the annual June draft. The five before him included Bobby Meacham (St. Louis 1981), Chris Gwynn (Los Angeles 1985), Eric Christopherson (San Francisco 1990), Benji Grigsby (Oakland 1992) and Travis Lee (Minnesota 1996).
In addition to Ring, other members of the 2002 Aztec baseball team selected on day one include:
Taber Lee, SS........Pittsburgh (3rd rd)......355, 15 2B, 47 RBIRory Shortell, RHP...Houston (3rd rd).........8-7, 4.28, 72 KRob Harrand, RHP.....Philadelphia (9th rd)....4-1, 5.44, 33 KBrian Manfred, C.....Philadelphia (13th rd)...307, 6 2B, 33 RBIErik Fiedler, RHP....Montreal (14th rd).......1-3, 5.83, 45 KChris Dunwell, RHP...Oakland (15th rd)........8-3, 3.92, 89 K
The seven players drafted equals the total number of SDSU players selected in the June 2001 edition of the draft.