Oklahoma baseball: Three Sooners taken on Day 2 of MLB Draft
By Chip Rouse
A trio of Oklahoma baseball players were selected on Day 2 of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.
Junior first baseman Tyler Hardman was a fifth-round pick by the New York Yankees, the 153rd pick overall. The Yankees biggest rivals, the Boston Red Sox, selected right-handed pitcher Wyatt Olds in the seventh round with the 196th overall pick in the draft, and right-handed pitcher Jason Ruffcorn was taken one round later, by the Philadelphia Phillies, with 235th pick.
Olds, a third-year sophomore this past season, was used as the primary Friday starter for the Sooners in 2021 after spending his first two season coming out of the bullpen. He appeared in 19 games in 2021 and finished with a 4-6 record with a 5.23 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 75.2 innings.
Ruffcorn, a second-team All-Big 12 selection in both 2019 and 2021, posted a 4-2 record this season with a 4.00 ERA and three saves in 21 appearances. He had a 3.09 ERA in three seasons at Oklahoma. Interestingly, Jason’s father, Scott, pitched for the Phillies in 1997.
A first-team All-American, Hardman led the Big 12 with a .397 batting average, which ranked 16th nationally. He had at least one hit in 47 of Oklahoma’s 55 games this season and multiple hits in 29 games.
A total of 19 Big 12 players were selected on Day 2 of this year’s MLB Draft to go with two first-round selections from the Big 12: K-State left-handed pitcher Jordan Wicks (No. 21 by the Chicago Cubs) and Ty Madden, a right-handed pitcher from Texas (No. 32 by the Detroit Tigers).
According to Baseball Almanac, a total of 73 players who played baseball at the University of Oklahoma have made it to the major league level.
A total of 284 OU players have been drafted into Major League Baseball since 1967, and at least one Sooner has been selected in the draft every year since 1970.
The 2021 MLB Draft concludes on Tuesday with rounds 11 through 20.