CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois baseball's Brett Nommensen and Jordan Kreke were both selected on day two of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, joining teammate Tyler Kehrer as Panthers picked this year.

 

Nommensen (Fox River Grove, Ill.) was selected with the 28th pick in the eighth round (259th overall) by the Tampa Bay Rays. Kreke (Bartelso, Ill.) was chosen about an hour later with the seventh pick of the 13th round (388th overall) by the Atlanta Braves.

 

Nommensen and Kreke are both seniors that closed out their EIU careers last month.

 

Tuesday evening, Kehrer (New Baden, Ill.) was selected by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim with the 48th overall pick (Compensation Round A). Kehrer is a junior left-handed pitcher who is expected to sign with the Angels and forego his final season of collegiate eligibility.

 

“With all three of them, we didn't want to talk rounds before the draft,” EIU head coach Jim Schmitz said. “But I couldn't be happier for all three guys. Scouts and organizations saw exactly what we saw this year. For Nommensen to go that high after being injured and Kreke to get picked in the 13th round after not even being on the radar in the fall, it says a lot about the hard work they put in and progress they made. I'm happy for them and proud for our program. It's a nice ending to a great all-around year.”

 

This marks the first time since 1988 that EIU has had three players selected in the same draft. It's also the first time in program history that two EIU players have been selected in the first 10 rounds.

 

Kehrer was the first player selected from the Ohio Valley Conference and an Illinois-based university. Three of the first four players picked from the OVC and three of the first five college players selected from Illinois universities were Panthers.

 

Kehrer, Nommensen and Kreke led EIU to a 2008 OVC Tournament title and NCAA Regional berth, and a 2009 OVC regular-season title.

 

Nommensen was a four-year starting center fielder at EIU. Kreke was a starting infielder in three of his four college seasons, playing primarily shortstop. However, he also demonstrated the ability to be an effective relief pitcher as a senior.

 

The Angels received the 48th pick in the compensation portion of the first round after losing Jon Garland to the Arizona Diamondbacks as a free-agent signee.

Tyler Kehrer, Junior LHP, New Baden, Ill. (Trenton-Wesclin HS)

Kehrer was the seventh left-handed pitcher selected from the college ranks and 11th overall in the 2009 draft. He is EIU's highest draftee since Stan Royer went 16th overall in the first round to the Oakland Athletics in the 1988 draft.

 

Kehrer led the OVC in strikeouts (90) and batting average (.213) against in 2009. His most dominate performance of the season with a complete-game one-hitter against SIU Edwardsville April 26 in Charleston. He struck out a career-high 14, the second of his three double-figure strikeout performances of the season. SIU Edwardsville did not hit a fair ball out of the infield.

 

In his three seasons as a Panther, Kehrer struck out 185 batters in 177 2/3 innings pitched. He started 37 games, including an NCAA Regional contest against Oral Roberts in Lincoln, Neb., in 2008. In the summer of 2008, he was named an All-Star in the Great Lakes Collegiate League.

 

Nommensen batted .525 with a .652 on-base percentage in 2009. He was leading the nation in on-base and slugging percentage when he suffered a wrist injury on April 10 that kept him out of the lineup for six weeks. He was able to return in time for the conference tournament and reached base safely in five of his seven plate appearances, going 3-for-5 in the loss to Murray State that ultimately ended EIU's season.

 

Nommensen batted over .400 in each of his upperclassman seasons to finish his career with a .374 average. He tied the EIU all-time record for runs scored in his final collegiate game and most likely would have also established new career marks for hits and stolen bases if not for the wrist injury.

 

Nommensen has excelled in summer wood bat leagues each of the last two years. In 2008, he led the Costal Plain League in batting average (.377) and was named an All-Star. He was also an All-Star selection in the Texas Collegiate League in 2007.

 

Kreke led the team in home runs (13) and RBIs (59) as a senior. He was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year in 2009 after feasting on league pitching. He batted .507 with 40 RBIs in EIU's 18 conference games. He also retired consecutive 20 batters over a stretch of five relief appearances on the mound in early April.

 

After being one of 15 semifinalists for the Brooks Wallace Award, which recognizes the national shortstop of the year, Kreke was a named a Louisville Slugger Third Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball.