Grant Hogue, Ricky Bowen Taken In MLB Draft
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Senior outfielder Grant Hogue of Hattiesburg, Miss., and junior pitcher Ricky Bowen of Jasper, Ala., have become the second and third Mississippi State baseball players selected in the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. In Thursday’s draft, Hogue was selected in the 35th round pick (1,061st overall selection) by the Houston Astros while Bowen was taken in the 43rd round (1,289th overall selection) by the Cincinnati Reds.
Hogue, a two-year starting center fielder for the Bulldogs, hit .315 as a senior with 10 extra-base hits and 22 RBI. He led Mississippi State and ranked third in the Southeastern Conference with 29 stolen bases (34 attempts), the second-highest single-season total at MSU. In two seasons Hogue registered 54 stolen bases, tying for fourth among MSU’s all-time career stolen base leaders.
A graduate of Oak Grove High School near Hattiesburg, Hogue starred for two seasons at Pearl River (Miss.,) Community College and sat out the 2007 season as a redshirt at State prior to taking over as the Bulldogs’ starting center fielder in 2008.
Hogue was a 46th-round pick of the Cincinnati Reds in the 2008 draft.
Bowen appeared in 11 games in 2009, making seven starts and compiling a 2-3 mark with an 8.44 earned run average. MSU’s opening-day starting pitcher was the workhorse of the MSU pitching staff as a third-year sophomore a season ago, pitching a staff-high 73-1/3 innings with 64 strikeouts.
In three seasons the right-hander has fashioned a 10-11 mark with five saves, a 6.55 earned run average and 126 strikeouts in 53 career appearances (20 starts).
Bowen, who prepped at Sumiton Christian School in Jasper, Ala., was a 38th-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Reds.
They join junior first baseman Connor Powers (Naperville, Ill.) on the 2009 draft rolls. Powers was selected Wednesday in the 11th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Additionally, third member of MSU's 2008-09 baseball recruiting class was also selected in the final day of selections in the 2009 draft.
Jaron Shepherd, an outfielder at Blinn (Texas) College, was drafted in the 44th round by the Cincinnati Reds. Yesterday junior college outfielder Runey Davis from Georgetown, Texas (Howard College) was selected in the 12th round by the Chicago Cubs while left-handed pitcher C.C. Watson of Heflin, Ala., (Cleburne County HS) was a 29th-round pick of the Texas Rangers.