Ball State's Zach Cole selected by Houston Astros in MLB Draft

Ball State junior outfielder Zach Cole was selected by the Houston Astros in the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft. Cole was a 10th-round selection, taken 313th overall.

Cole, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound outfielder from Ozark, Missouri had one of the best final months of the season of any individual player in the Mid-American Conference.

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Cole, who was hitting .255 on the year entering April, finished the season batting .361 and was an All-MAC first team selection along with teammate Tyler Schweitzer, who was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the fifth round of the draft.

Cole ended up leading Ball State, which won its first MAC regular season title since 2014 this season, in batting average (.361) and slugging percentage (.727) while finishing second in on-base percentage (.449). Starting 52 out of 55 games, he recorded 66 hits, an NCAA-best nine triples, 13 home runs and 47 RBIs. He also recorded a .964 fielding percentage.

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With the selection, Cole becomes the 71st MLB draft pick from Ball State and 34th position player to get drafted.

"Congrats to Zach Cole on being selected in the 10th round of the MLB draft by the Houston Astros!" Ball State head coach Rich Maloney said in a tweet. "Zach played the last six weeks of our championship season at one of the highest levels I have seen. Truly amazing! Go Zach and go Cardinals!"

Robby General covers Ball State and East Central Indiana high school sports for The Star Press. Contact him via email at rgeneral@gannett.com or on Twitter @rgeneraljr.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: MLB Draft: Ball State's Zach Cole selected by Houston Astros