June 11, 2009
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State pitchers Jon Berger and Tyler Lavigne were chosen during the third day of Major League Baseball's first-year player draft which concluded Thursday afternoon. The inclusion of the two Aztec right-handers brings to five the total number of SDSU players selected during the annual professional draft.
Berger, a senior, was taken by the San Diego Padres in the 33rd round while teammate Lavigne (a junior) was a 50th-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals. Both players hail from Las Vegas and came to San Diego State from the College of Southern Nevada.
Berger made 15 appearances for the Aztecs in 2009 including 14 starts, compiling a mark of 4-5 with a 5.83 earned run average. Over his 88 innings of work he struck out 72 while walking only 12. His dozen bases on ball allowed ranked him 12th in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings (1.23) and he did not walk more than two batters in any contest in 2009.
Lavigne finished with a record of 8-2 along with a 3.05 earned run average. He was a second-team all-Mountain West Conference selection whose strikeout total of 87 overall and 41 in league games ranked second in the MWC only to teammate Stephen Strasburg. His 6.78 hits allowed per nine innings was the 20th-best mark in the nation and opponents hit just .209 against him.
Berger and Lavigne were the fourth and fifth Aztecs selected in the 2009 MLB draft. The complete list of SDSU players selected is as follows:
Player Pos. Team RoundStephen Strasburg..RHP...Washington....1stErik Castro.......3B/C...Houston......10thGoldy Simmons......RHP...Chicago WS...23rdJon Berger.........RHP...San Diego....33rdTyler Lavigne......RHP...St. Louis....50th