Baseball: Two Panthers selected in seventh round

The Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants picked two Pitt players in the seventh round of… Two Pitt baseball players were scooped up by Major League Baseball yesterday.

The teams selected the Pitt athletes six picks apart in the seventh round. The Chicago White Sox chose Kevan Smith, a senior catcher, with the 231st overall pick and the San Francisco Giants drafted redshirt sophomore Ray Black, a right-handed pitcher, with the 237th selection.

The seventh-highest draft pick produced by Pitt, Smith, who graduated in May, finished his career as a Panther fifth in career batting average (.375), eighth in career stolen bases (313) and 10th in career RBI (123).

Pitt head coach Joe Jordano said in a press release that Smith could be one of the most talented players available.

“For a senior to be drafted in the seventh round, it proves his value and his skill set,” Jordano said. “We all very much look forward to watching his professional career. He was an integral part of our team, and I am very happy he decided to play baseball a few years ago. He has worked very hard and I believe his best years are ahead of him.”

Smith spent his freshman year at Pitt vying for the quarterback position on Pitt’s football team before deciding to pursue baseball as a sophomore. Last year, Smith tied for the Big East Conference lead with a .396 batting average during the regular season.

He also topped the conference with 56 runs scored during the regular season while driving in eight home runs and 52 RBI. Smith ranked 21st in the country with a slugging percentage of .675 and 22nd in batting average (.397).

Smith, a graduate of Seneca Valley High School in Cranberry Township, was an all-Big East first-team and a Big East all-tournament team selection in 2010 and 2011. He majored in marketing inPitt’s College of Business Administration.

Unlike Smith, Black, the eighth-highest draft pick to come out of Pitt, still has eligibility remaining as a Panther and can return to play college baseball if he chooses.

“Today is a very exciting day for me,” Black said in the release. “I am presented with a great opportunity. I could come back to the University of Pittsburgh for my junior year, or I can play at the professional level. It’s a nice choice to have to make.”

Capable of reaching the upper-90s with his fastball, Black appeared 18 times as a relief picher last season. He finished with four saves and a 1-1 record, striking out 33 batters in 20 innings.

Black, who hails from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., set the single season record for strikeouts per nine innings last season with 14.85. In two seasons as a Panther, Black has appeared 30 times and started twice.

He’s eighth all-time in Pitt’s record book with five saves.