June 7, 2006

TEMPE, Ariz. -

Five Arizona State Sun Devils were selected during the first day of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft on Tuesday. Junior outfielder Colin Curtis was the first Devil selected, going in the fourth round to the New York Yankees.

 

Since the Major League Baseball Draft began in 1965, 344 Sun Devils have heard their names called, the most by any school. In addition to the five current Sun Devils who were picked, seven of the 16 players who signed a National Letter of Intent (NLI) with ASU also were selected. Another, Tommy Hanson, signed with the Atlanta Braves on Monday.

 

Junior righty Pat Bresnehan (5^th round, Pittsburgh Pirates), junior righty Zechry Zinicola (6^th round, Washington Nationals), senior lefty Brett Bordes (9^th round, Baltimore Orioles) and senior right hander Tony Barnette (10^th round, Arizona Diamondbacks) were also selected.

 

Curtis (Issaquah, Wash.) started all 182 games of his Sun Devil career, batting .328 with 13 home runs and 135 RBI. He stole 50 bases, including a career high 21 in 2006. He was drafted in the 50^th round by the Cincinnati Reds out of high school.

 

Bresnehan (Sherborn, Mass.) pitched in 71 games, starting 21 of them. He holds a career record of 11-9 with a 5.01 ERA. Bresnehan struck out 173 batters over his three seasons in 192.1 innings pitched. He was drafted in the 23^rd round of the 2003 draft by the Kansas City Royals.

 

Zinicola (San Bernardino, Calif.) was a two-way player until his junior season, when he focused on pitching. He is third all-time in school history with 18 saves, including a freshmen record tying eight in 2004. He also hit five home runs for the Devils. In his 75 games pitched he has a record of 10-9 with a 4.34 ERA. He was drafted out of high school by the Atlanta Braves in the 43^rd round.

 

Bordes (Mesa, Ariz.) leaves Arizona State as the all-time leader in career appearances, pitching in 109 career games. He led the team in victories with seven in his senior season, finishing his four year run with 16 career wins in addition to nine saves.

 

Barnette (Federal Way, Wash.) appeared in 50 games for ASU, finishing with a 10-2 career record. He went 6-1 in his final season, leading the team with 70 strike outs. The transfer from Central Arizona struck out 123 batters in his 104.2 career innings.

 

The 2006 Sun Devils faced 15 players who were drafted in the first three rounds of this year's draft, including three of the first five picks. Those three were pitchers, and the Devils picked up wins against two of them (Houston's Brad Lincoln, #4 to Pittsburgh and Cal's Brandon Morrow, #5 to Seattle).

 

2006 Major League Draft

Player                                     Team               Round             Overall

Travis Snider, OF*                 Toronto          1st                    14^th

Colin Curtis, OF                      Yankees          4^th                    134^th

Pat Bresnehan, RHP               Pittsburgh      5^th                    140^th

Zechry Zinicola, RHP             Washington  6^th                    181^st

Michael Leake, INF/RHP*     Oakland          7^th                    218^th

Robby Alcombrack, C*          Cleveland       7^th                    221^st

Justin Souza, RHP*                 Seattle             9^th                    261^st

Brett Bordes, LHP                    Baltimore        9^th                    265^th

Tony Barnette, RHP                Arizona           10^th                  297^th

Kyle Thornton, RHP*             Minnesota      31^st                  936^th

Dan Duffy, INF*                      Yankees           42^nd                1273^rd

Mike Petello, INF*                   Philadelphia    44^th                 1325^{th
*= Signed NLI with Arizona State}