RELATED LINKS

The Big 12 totaled 38 draft selections in the 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Oklahoma and TCU led all teams with six picks overall, while Baylor and Kansas totaled five each.

In 17 years, the Big 12 has recorded a total of 812 selections.

Oklahoma’s Jonathan Gray highlighted the Big 12’s four student-athletes selected on the first day of the 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

The Colorado Rockies used their top pick on the 6-foot-4, 239-pound right-handed pitcher, who has a 10-2 record and 1.59 ERA this season. Oklahoma State pitcher Jason Hursh was also a first round pick, going 31st overall to the Atlanta Braves. This marks the second season the Cowboys have had a hurler selected in the first round. Texas closer Corey Knebel was the 39th overall pick by the Detroit Tigers. Gray’s teammate, Dillon Overton, was a second round choice by Oakland (63rd overall).

Gray becomes the second-highest pick in Big 12 history and the highest league pitcher selected all-time. Nebraska’s Alex Gordon was a No. 2 selection in 2005. Gray is the highest Sooner selected since the Texas Rangers took Bobby Witt third overall in 1985. He is the 18th Sooner drafted in the first round since 1967 and fourth in Sunny Golloway’s tenure as head coach at OU. 

The Big 12 has recorded multiple first round selections in 11 years and has totaled 36 first rounders overall.

"It feels great. I finally had the dream come true," Gray said. "My heart was beating so fast. Fortunately, my friends and family were all around me, supporting me. It’s a big relief for me because, tomorrow, I can focus on winning. It’s a great organization to be in. I’m definitely not scared to pitch in that ballpark at all."

Gray is second in the NCAA this season with 138 strikeouts. He is only the sixth Sooner to pitch back-to-back 100-strikeout seasons.

Hursh is coming off a sophomore season for the Cowboys in which he was an All-Big 12 Conference second team pick and was named to the Midseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List. The right-hander finished the season 6-5 with a 2.79 ERA in 16 starts. He tossed three complete games, worked 106.1 innings and racked up 86 strikeouts. As a freshman for the Cowboys in 2011, Hursh made 10 appearances, including four starts, and was 1-1 with a 2.73 ERA. The native Texan was forced to miss the 2012 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Knebel ranks tied for second on the Big 12 career saves list with 37, four shy of former Longhorn Huston Street’s record of 41. Knebel, who was the 2011 NCBWA Stopper of the Year and Collegiate Baseball’s 2011 Freshman Pitcher of the Year, owns a career ERA of 2.07 in 91 appearances at UT.

Overton has compiled a 23-9 record in his three years at Oklahoma. The junior southpaw is 9-2 on the season in 15 games and owns a 2.91 ERA with a pair of complete games. Overton was named an All-Big 12 second team selection this season and owns the Big 12 Championship record for most strikeouts at the event with his 15 over two games in 2012.

2013 MLB DRAFT - BIG 12 SELECTIONS