Four Sooners Selected in 2019 MLB Draft

Sooners in the Draft
Rd.	Pick	Team	Player, Pos.
8	248	Rays	Nathan Wiles, RHP
18	534	Reds	Jason Ruffcorn, RHP
19	581	Dodgers	Briadyn Fink, LHP
23	695	Cardinals	Brylie Ware, 3B

NORMAN — The Oklahoma baseball team concluded the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft with three players drafted on Wednesday.

Junior pitcher Jason Ruffcorn was selected in the 18th round, junior pitcher Braidyn Fink was selected in the 19th round and senior third baseman Brylie Ware was drafted in the 23rd round on Wednesday. A total of four Sooners were selected in the 2019 MLB draft. Junior pitcher Nathan Wiles was drafted in the eighth round on Tuesday.

Ruffcorn was taken with the 534th overall pick by the Cincinnati Reds. The Cedar Park, Texas, native earned second-team All-Big 12 honors this season. He recorded 11 saves, which tops in the conference and ranks 33rd nationally, and his 30 appearances rank fourth in the league. The right-hander went 2-2 with a 2.43 ERA in 37.0 innings and pitched 22 scoreless outings. His 11 saves rank fifth in a single season in OU history.

Fink was the 581st overall selection by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The left-hander from Moore, Okla., missed the 2019 season with an arm injury. In 2018 he posted a 1.71 ERA in 28 appearances and 21.0 innings. He earned one save, struck out 28 batters and allowed just four runs on 15 hits and nine walks, and allowed opponents to hit just .205 against him.

Ware was selected with the 695th overall pick by the St. Louis Cardinals. The Sedgwick, Kan., native is a career .310 hitter who compiled 199 hits, 107 RBIs and 107 runs scored in his three-year OU career. He is the 41st Sooner to collect at least 100 hits, 100 RBIs and 100 runs in his career. Ware also collected 42 doubles, 12 home runs, three triples, 63 walks, was hit by a pitch 40 times and compiled a .401 career on-base percentage. He earned All-Big 12 recognition in each of his three seasons.

A total of 276 players have been drafted into Major League Baseball out of Oklahoma since 1967 and at least one player has been drafted every year since 1970. OU has had at least one player picked in the top 10 rounds in every MLB Draft since 2011.