Texas Tech baseball’s Parker Mushinski and Tanner Gardner had their names called by teams in their home state on day two of the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft.
Junior left-handed pitcher Parker Mushinki was selected in the seventh round, 211th overall by the Houston Astros, while junior outfielder Tanner Gardner was picked by the Texas Rangers with the 284th pick in the ninth round. Both were undrafted coming out of high school.
Mushinski and Gardner are the 10th and 11th Red Raiders picked in the top 10 rounds of the MLB Draft in five years under head coach Tim Tadlock and his staff. Tech has had at least one draft pick taken in the eighth round or earlier in each of the last six years.
The Argyle native, Mushinski finished the 2017 season with a 2.15 ERA along with a 3-2 record and six saves in 31 appearances on the mound in relief. His 31 trips to the mound were the second most in a season by a Red Raider, while his ERA sits as the 10th-lowest at Tech since 1974.
Mushinski wrapped his junior year with 24 shutout outings, including a stretch of eight-straight scoreless appearances totaling 12.0 frames from April 23-June 2. Over 37.2 innings, he struck out 47 batters and allowed only 10 runs, nine earned.
In 2016, Mushinski put together a 1.93 ERA and one save in 21 appearances in his sophomore season in the scarlet & black. He totaled 15 strikeouts over 14.0 innings that season, while allowing only seven hits and four runs, three earned. In his freshman year, Mushinski posted a 2-1 record in 17 outings with 21 strikeouts.
Overall, Mushisnki appeared on the mound 69 times for the Red Raiders over three years, racking up 83 strikeouts for a 5-3 record. He also earned All-Big 12 honorable mention honors, while also being named to the 2017 Academic All-Big 12 first team.
Gardner, from Frisco, is a career .320 hitter, posting 181 hits, 79 RBI and 114 runs scored over three years in Lubbock. Last season, he became the program’s 34th All-America honoree after earning second team accolades from the American Baseball Coaches Association, while also picking up a unanimous All-Big 12 first team nod. He was also named to the 2017 Academic All-Big 12 first team and the Academic All-Rookie team as a freshman.
Last season, Gardner pieced together a .305 average at the plate thanks to 61 hits, including 17 doubles, two triples and five homers. His five dingers couldn’t have come at a better time, all during the last month of the year, including two in the series opener against Kansas (May 18), two in game four of the NCAA Lubbock Regional against Sam Houston State (June 3) and another in game six against the Bearkats the next day. He also recorded 33 RBI and 38 runs scored.
His sophomore season was arguably his best as a Red Raider, leading the Big 12 with a .379 clip, along with a .549 and .484 on-base percentages. His .379 average was the best by a Red Raider since Scooter Jordan in 2003 and his hit total of 89 the most since Cameron Blair in 2004. He also recorded 27 multi-hit games in 2016 and produced 18 in 2017.
Both Mushinski and Gardner were instrumental in Tech’s back-to-back Big 12 championships and trips to the postseason, including a berth in the 2016 College World Series.
On Monday, the first day of the draft, Texas Tech signee Trevor Rogers was selected 13th overall by the Miami Marlins. He joined Josh Naylor (12th) and Trent Clark (15th) from the 2015 draft as three Red Raider signees under Tadlock and his staff selected in the first round in three years.
COURTESY OF TEXAS TECH ATHLETICS
