FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 6-4-02

AASU Trio Selected In MLB First-Year Player Draft

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Armstrong Atlantic State junior righthanded pitcher Mike Roga and senior outfielder Kirk Nordness were each selected in the 12^th round, while senior catcher David Harriman was selected in the 17^th round of the 2002 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday afternoon.

Roga, a native of Pickering, Ontario, was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays with pick number 356. The junior earned All-PBC and All-South Atlantic Region honors, going 10-4 with a 3.00 ERA for the Pirates in 2002 and hurling the ninth no-hitter in school history on March 5, blanking Northwest Missouri State 1-0 and tying a school record with 17 strikeouts in the game.

Nordness, a native of Beaverton, Ore., was selected just 12 picks later in the same round by the Oakland A's, going with the 368^th overall pick. The senior outfielder earned All-PBC and All-South Atlantic Region honors in 2002, hitting .374 with 12 home runs and 54. Nordness ranks fifth all-time on the AASU batting charts with his career .373 average.

Harriman, who earned first-team All-America and second-team Academic All-America honors in 2002 for the Pirates, was selected in the 17^th round, also by the Oakland A's, with the 518^th overall pick. Harriman led the Pirates with a .412 average, 14 home runs and 69 RBI and collected a DII single-season record 41-game hitting streak to begin the 2002 season.

Roga, Nordness and Harriman represent the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th players drafted from Armstrong Atlantic State in MLB's First-Year Player Draft since 1982 and join six former AASU Pirates currently playing professional baseball, including current Detroit Tiger pitcher Adam Bernero.

- Pirates -