Four Hornets selected in MLB draft, Nichols signs as free agent

Jeremiah Martinez

Four Sacramento State Hornets were selected in the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft – including pitcher Brennan Leitao, shortstop Scotty Burcham, pitcher Sutter McLoughlin and outfielder Nathan Lukes – on June 10.

It was the fourth consecutive season that Sac State had multiple MLB Draft selections. 

Lukes, the first Hornet selected in the draft, was the 214th overall pick by the Cleveland Indians in the seventh round. The outfielder holds program records with 244 career hits and nine triples. 

McLoughlin (Philadelphia Phillies, 22 round, 654 overall), Burcham (Colorado Rockies, 25 round, 737 overall), Leitao (St. Louis Cardinals, 26 round, 791 overall) were third-day selections of the draft. 

After the draft, pitcher Ty Nichols signed with the Tampa Bay Rays as a free agent, who went 6-0 with a 1.23 ERA (min. 50 innings pitched), a single-season program record and ranked fifth in the Division I era. 

All Hornets’ draftees signed MLB deals with their teams, which is the most in a single season since 1993. 

Under Hornets’ coach Reggie Christiansen, 11 players in the program have been selected in the MLB draft.