Eastern Illinois shortstop
Trey Sweeney joined elite company on Sunday evening as he was selected with the 20th pick overall in the first round of the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft.
Sweeney was selected by the New York Yankees. He is one of nine players in-attendance in Denver for this weekend's MLB Draft and All-Star weekend activities.
This past season he became the program's first first-team All-American at the NCAA Division I level after he hit .382 with ten doubles, 14 home runs, 58 RBI and 52 runs scored. Sweeney was the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year while becoming a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award and semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Award.
Sweeney is the highest EIU player selected in the MLB Draft since Tyler Kehrer was taken in the 2009 Draft in the Comp A round with the 48th overall selection by the Los Angeles Angels.
Sweeney is only the third player in EIU baseball history to be selected in the first round. Tim Pyznarski is the Panthers highest draft selection after being taken 15th overall in the 1981 MLB Draft by the Oakland A's.  Stan Royer was then selected in the first round of the 1988 MLB Draft with the 16th overall pick by the Oakland A's.
Sweeney is the third Ohio Valley Conference player ever selected in the first round. Drew Hall from Morehead State was the third overall pick by the Chicago Cubs in the 1984 draft. Christian Friedrich of Eastern Kentucky was selected in the 2008 first round by the Colorado Rockies.Â
The shortstop is the fourth EIU player to be selected in the MLB Draft in the last three seasons joining Will Klein (5th round by Kansas City last season), Michael YaSenka (17th round by St. Louis Cardinals in 2019) and Jimmy Govern (30th round by Kansas City Royals in 2019). He is the third former Panther to be drafted by the Yankees joining Matt Borens (11th round, 2014) and Frank Caliendo (1962).
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