Cougars Make Mark In Baseball Draft

Washington State’s Todd Belitz, a left-handed pitcher, has signed a professional baseball contract with the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays, according to the school.

Belitz, a junior who went 2-8 with an earned run average of 11.59 this spring, was one of two Cougars selected in the recently completed Major League Draft.

Belitz was taken in the fourth round, and teammate Jason Hairston, a junior catcher who batted .276 with 10 home runs, was a 16th-round pick of the Atlanta Braves. In addition, former left-handed pitcher and all-Pacific-10 Conference basketball player Mark Hendrickson currently a member of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers was drafted in the 20th round by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Belitz, a 6-foot-1, 218-pounder, was 9-15 in three seasons at WSU and had an 8.11 career earned run average. He pitched 66 innings and struck out 65 batters this spring for a Cougar team that finished 13-42 . But he gave up a school-record 94 runs, 85 of which were earned.

Hairston, a 6-1, 210-pounder, started slowly at the plate this spring and was batting just .182 after 25 games. In the last half of the season, he batted .373 and hit eight homers.

, DataTimes