Ellsbury, Barney On MLB Rosters To Open 2015
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Former Oregon State student-athletes Jacoby Ellsbury and Darwin Barney are both on Major League Baseball rosters to open the 2015 season.
Ellsbury is in his second season with the New York Yankees, and will patrol center field after a year in which he batted .271 with 27 doubles, 16 home runs and 70 runs batted in. In eight seasons at the MLB level, he has batted .293 with 81 home runs, 384 RBI and 280 stolen bases.
Barney, meanwhile, is on the West Coast with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Barney played 94 games between the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs last season, combining to hit .241 with 11 doubles, three home runs and 23 RBI. The 2015 campaign marks his sixth season at the Major League level, where he has tallied 89 doubles, 13 triples, nine home runs and 153 RBI is 564 games.
Ellsbury played for the Beavers from 2003-05, batting .365 in 160 career games. He, along with Barney, led the team to their first visit to Omaha for the College World Series in more than 50 years in 2005. Ellsbury was selected in the first round of the 2005 MLB First-Year Player Draft by Boston.
Barney helped lead OSU to two consecutive national titles, in 2006 and 2007, and batted .311 with 40 doubles, seven home runs and 136 RBI in 191 games with the Beavers. He was taken in the fourth round of the 2007 draft by the Cubs.
All told, the Beavers have 30 former players currently signed with MLB-affiliated organizations. Twenty-eight of the 30 are expected to open play later this week and next when the Minor League season starts.
Oregon State remains on the road this weekend when visiting Oregon at PK Park. The Civil War presented by PacificSource Health Plans, The Oregon 529 College Savings Network, McDonalds, Spirit Mountain Casino and Your Local Ford Stores, will open Friday night at 7:30 p.m. PT in a game televised on ESPNU.
For more information on the Oregon State baseball team, follow the club’s official Twitter account at Twitter.com/Beaver_Baseball, by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateBaseball or on Instagram at Instagram.com/BeaverBaseball.
