• MLB Draft Tracker
Four Ohio Valley Conference baseball players were selected on Day Two of the 2022 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
The picks included Belmont outfielder
Guy LIpscomb, Eastern Illinois pitcher
Hayden Birdsong, SIUE outfielder
Brett Johnson and Southeast Missouri catcher
Andrew Keck.
Day two featured rounds 3-10; the event will conclude on Tuesday with rounds 11-20. For the second-straight year the draft is 20 rounds, down from the traditional 40 rounds prior to the 2020 season.
The OVC has had 42 players selected in the Draft over the past six years (2017-22).
Lipscomb was named a Third-Team All-American by the NCBWA, Second-Team All-Region by the ABCA, and the 2022 OVC Player of the Year after leading the Bruins to their first OVC Regular Season championship this past season. He ranked 9th in the country in batting average (.406), 5th in stolen bases (42), and ranked 2nd in the OVC in on-base percentage (.484). Lipscomb was also the first player in NCAA Division I since 2011 (Bryson Miles, Stephen F. Austin) to hit at least .400 and steal at least 40 bases in a single season.
Birdsong was a first team All-OVC selection this past season as a relief pitcher. During the regular season he led EIU in earned run average pitching in 45.2 innings. He would lead the conference with a 1.40 ERA in OVC action. Including the OVC Tournament Birdsong made 20 appearances on the season with a 5-4 record, one save, a 3.35 ERA and 66 strike outs. Birdsong is pitching this summer in the Northwoods League with the Lakeshore Chinooks posting a 2-0 record with one save in six appearances.
Johnson was a first team All-OVC selection following one of the most successful offensive seasons in SIUE history. He started all 55 games in center field and was second on the team with a .350 batting average. He set the single-season school record for home runs in a season with 23 and drove in 63 runs, establishing a new single-season benchmark at the Division I level. Johnson finished second in the league and 16th in the NCAA in total home runs. He was ninth in the nation in home runs per game (0.42/game). He led the league in slugging percentage at .765 which also ranked ninth in the NCAA and is the best in a Division I season at SIUE.
Keck was part of back-to-back OVC tournament titles and one OVC regular-season crown in his final two seasons as a Redhawk. In 2022, he hit .326 with 47 runs, 15 doubles, two triples, 17 home runs, 68 RBI and 11 stolen bases in 57 starts. Keck earned Second-Team All-OVC and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-Region honors, and was one of 16 semifinalists for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year.
2022 MLB DRAFT PICKS FROM THE OVC
5th Round (No. 151) - OF - Guy Lipscomb, Belmont (Cleveland Guardians)
6th Round (No. 196) - RHP - Hayden Birdsong, Eastern Illinois (San Francisco Giants)
10th Round (No. 288) - OF - Brett Johnson, SIUE (Arizona Diamondbacks)
10th Round (No. 305) - C - Andrew Keck, Southeast Missouri (Arizona Diamondbacks)