June 8, 2010

SPOKANE, Wash. - Cody Martin became the second Gonzaga University player selected in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft Tuesday, taken in the 20th round by the Minnesota Twins just hours after Drew Heid was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the ninth round earlier in the day.Gonzaga signee Marco Gonzales was also drafted Tuesday, taken in the 29th round by the Colorado Rockies as the 890th overall selection.

Martin is the 31st Bulldog to be drafted during head coach Mark Machtolf's 19 years at Gonzaga. The junior right-hander is the fourth Zag pitcher drafted in the past two seasons after three Bulldogs were taken in last year's draft. Martin will have to decide whether to sign a professional contract or return to the Bulldogs for his senior season.

Martin, the 615th overall pick, led the Zags in wins (5), innings (88.0), strikeouts (89) while making a team-high 14 starts and serving as the team's ace this past season. His 89 punch outs are the tenth most in Gonzaga single season history and his 208 career strikeouts are eighth most on Gonzaga's all-time strikeout list. Martin struck out nine or hitters in four starts this season, highlighted by a career-best 13 strikeout performance against Sacramento State University.

In his three seasons with Zags, Martin has appeared in 63 games, recorded 14 wins and notched a school-record 15 saves. He was a NCBWA Freshman All-American, an All-West Coast Conference honorable mention selection as a freshman, earned a spot on the Roger Clemens Award Watch List, was placed on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List twice and was invited to the Team USA National Team Trials in 2009.

Gonzales signed a National Letter of Intent with Gonzaga this past fall and was most recently named the Gatorade Colorado Baseball Player of the Year. The left-handed pitcher and first baseman out of Rocky Mountain high school in Fort Collins, Colo. is a four-time Colorado All-State selection and four-time state champion after starting on the mound and earning the victory in all four state title games. He posted a 9-0 record with a 2.15 ERA and 84 strikeouts his senior year, capping the season with a complete-game effort in the state title game, striking out 11 and hitting a three-run homer.

The draft concludes tomorrow with rounds 31-50 set to take place beginning at 9 a.m. on MLB.com.