4 Indiana baseball players taken in top 5 rounds of MLB draft

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — The Indiana University Hoosiers baseball program continued to make a name for itself on a national level with four of its players selected in the first five rounds of the MLB draft.

For those keeping score, that’s the most in the program’s history and more than any other Big Ten school.

Carmel native Nick Mitchell was chosen in Round 4 of the draft, 136th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays. The outfielder appeared in 54 games for IU in 2024 with 54 starts. He finished tied for second in runs scored in the Big Ten (62), top 10 in the league in walks (40), and tied for No. 45 in the nation and No. 1 in the Big Ten in sacrifice flies (6). He hit .335 with five home runs and 49 RBIs on the season.

Hoosiers Carter Mathison and Connor Foley would follow, both going in the fifth round.

Mathison went with the 162nd pick to the Phillies, while Foley was taken by the Diamondbacks with the 164th pick.

Mathison is a Fort Wayne native, started in all 60 games for IU in 2024 – hitting .260 with 60 hits, 55 runs, 16 doubles, 13 home runs and 44 RBIs. 

Foley, a Jasper native, was All-Big Ten Second Team as a starting pitcher for IU in 2024. Foley finished seventh in the Big Ten in strikeouts (82). He was tops in the league among starters in batting average against (.165), and finished 34th in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings (11.71).

Luke Sinnard was taken by the Braves in the third round, The right-handed pitcher was one of the tallest pitchers in the draft, at 6 feet, 8 inches, and 250 pounds. The 21-year-old, Tennessee native set the IU single-season strikeout record with 114 Ks in 2023, breaking an 89-year-old record set by Vernon “Whitey” Wilshere in 1934.

To date, Indiana has now had 111 players chosen in the MLB draft.