Four Frogs selected on day one of MLB Draft
6/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 7, 2007
Fort Worth, Texas - Four TCU juniors were taken on the first day of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. Sam Demel was the first Frog selected in the third round with the 120th pick by the Oakland A's. Three more Frogs followed in the fifth round. Andrew Walker and Jake Arrieta were taken back-to-back as Walker was chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the 158th pick and Arrieta by the Baltimore Orioles with the 159th selection. Chance Corgan rounded out the Frog picks as he was selected by San Francisco with the 164th pick.For Demel, this is the second time he has been drafted. He chose TCU out of high school after being a 35th round pick by the Texas Rangers. He put together an impressive run in his three seasons at TCU, twice being named first-team all-MWC as a reliever. Demel saved his best season for last as he broke the single season record for saves with 13. He was 7-1 in 32 appearances with a 2.17 ERA.
In three seasons, Demel posted an 18-12 record in 75 appearances. He set a new TCU career record with 20 saves. In 237 1/3 innings pitched, Demel fanned 271 batters and limited opponents to a .248 batting average. He posted an impressive 3.91 ERA for is career.
Another three year performer for the Horned Frogs, Walker was also a two-time first-team all-conference performer. As a freshman, he earned Freshman All-American honors from Baseball America and Louisville Slugger.
For his career, he appeared in 166 games and made 157 starts. A career .315 hitter, Walker slugged 32 home runs, 45 doubles and drove in 138 runs. Defensively, he shined behind the dish with a .993 fielding percentage.
A two-time first-team all-Mountain West Conference performer, Arrieta had an outstanding two seasons with the Horned Frogs. For his career, Arrieta ranks tied for fourth all-time with 23 victories. He was 23-7 in 36 appearances for the Purple and White. He has a career ERA of 2.66 in 209 2/3 innings pitched to go along with 204 punch outs. Following a successful sophomore campaign in which he tied for the national lead with 14 victories, Arrieta was a consensus first-team All-American as well as the MWC Co-Pitcher of the Year.
During the summer of 2006, Arrieta became the first Horned Frog to earn a spot on the 22-man Team USA Roster. He made six starts for the National Team and finished the summer 4-0 with a miniscule 0.27 ERA. In 33.2 innings pitched, the right-hander struck out 34 batters and allowed just one earned run to cross the plate. He gave up just 11 base hits and combined to shut out three opponents.
Corgan transferred to TCU in the fall after two seasons at Texas A&M. A regular in the Frogs starting rotation this season, Corgan finished with a 7-1 record in 18 appearances. He compiled a 4.48 ERA in 86 1/3 innings pitched. The junior ranked third on the squad with 64 strikeouts and was named second-team all-conference. TCU is one of just three schools to have four players selected on the first day of the draft. Clemson had five players selected and Pepperdine had four.
The draft will wrap up on Friday with rounds six through 50.
