University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Geith Picked on Day Three of MLB Draft
6/8/2011 6:20:00 PM | Baseball
Louisiana pitcher T.J. Geith was drafted by the Tampa Rays on the third day of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
The Rays selected Geith in the 39th round using the 1,200th overall pick. This is the second time the Peoria, Ariz., native was drafted. He went to the Chicago White Sox in the 49th round in 2009.
Geith's selection marks the 15th consecutive year that at least one Ragin' Cajuns pitcher was taken in the MLB draft.
He joins fellow teammate Alex Fuselier (21st round, Pittsburgh Pirates) as current Cajuns taken in this year's draft giving UL multiple picks for the second straight year and 13th time in 17 years of the Tony Robichaux Era.
Geith becomes the first Cajuns player - and only the second ever - selected by Tampa Bay since Danny Massiatte was taken by the franchise in 2000.
He is the 41st Cajuns player (44th selection) coached by Tony Robichaux to be selected in the MLB Draft.
Geith started 29 games the past two seasons in a Cajuns uniform and collected 12 victories. He logged 173 innings, tallied 119 strikeouts and turned in three complete games.
He provided the Cajuns with arguably the best Sunday arm in the Sun Belt Conference in 2011 logging 82 1/3 innings.
In conference play, he posted all six of his season victories which was one shy of the league lead. The lanky lefty struck out 47 in SBC games, finishing in the Top 10 in that category.
All three of his complete games came in Sun Belt play of the 2011 campaign. His first career complete game was a two-hit shutout of La.-Monroe in a seven inning contest on March 20 at "The Tigue".
Later in the season Geith pitched complete games on back-to-back Sundays (4/24 vs. South Alabama & 5/1 vs. UALR). In those 18 innings he held the opposition to five runs and struck out 12.
In his final appearance in a Cajuns uniform he scattered seven hits over seven innings on May 27 helping keep the Cajuns within striking distance against Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Tournament,
Geith arrived at UL in the Fall of 2009 after two seasons at Scottsdale Community College. In his debut campaign, he was a member of the weekend rotation the entire season garnering 15 starts and logging 90 2/3 innings. He posted a 6-1 regular season record and the Cajuns were 11-4 in games he pitched.
RAGIN' CAJUNS IN THE 2011 MLB DRAFT
Rd. (Pick), Name, Pos., Team
21 (632), Alex Fuselier, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates
39 (1,200), T.J. Geith, P, Tampa Bay Rays
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
