Baseball: Osborne begins pro career in Spokane

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • June 13, 2010

Born and raised in Texas, former UL right-hander Zach Osborne will start his professional baseball career up in the Pacific Northwest. 

Osborne, a ninth-round pick by the Texas Rangers on Tuesday in the Major League Baseball first-year player draft, told The Daily Advertiser on Friday that he had signed with the club. Financial terms were unavailable.

His next stop: The great state of Washington. Osborne leaves Monday and will report to the Spokane Indians of the short-season Single-A Northwest League. The Indians open with a three-day minicamp Tuesday before their season-opener Friday at home against the Tri-City Dust Devils, an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

"You always want your players to get a chance to play beyond college because most of them dream of playing professional baseball," UL coach Tony Robichaux said. "I think he can do whatever they need him to do, whether it’s start or work out of the bullpen because he’s a strike thrower, works with good rhythm and tempo and goes after people.

"He just needs to adjust to playing pro baseball."

Osborne emerged as UL’s pitching ace as a senior, earning first team All-Sun Belt Conference honors with a 9-4 record and 2.37 ERA. The Houston native also fanned 112 batters in 121.2 innings and tossed five complete games.

At the end of the year Osborne led all Sun Belt starters in ERA and strikeouts, was first with seven league victories and in the top 30 nationally in ERA and strikeouts. For his career, Osborne went 14-7 with a 2.81 ERA and 179 strikeouts to only 35 walks in 205.1 innings.

The 6-foot-5, 200-pounder capped his college career by tossing a five-hit shutout in a 1-0 win over Rice in the NCAA Austin Regional. It was only the second complete-game shutout by a Cajun in NCAA tourney history.

Osborne was the second Sun Belt player drafted this year behind Boston’s supplemental first-round pick Bryce Brentz of Middle Tennessee. He is the highest Cajun player taken since Jonathan Lucroy in the third round by Milwaukee in 2007 and the highest UL pitcher selected since Patrick Green in the seventh round by Kansas City in 2004.

"We’re excited to get him," Texas Rangers director of amateur scouting Kip Fagg told MLB.com. "He’s a guy that’s been a winner in college. Our area scout, Randy Taylor, did a heck of a job with him. He sort of sneaked up the boards a little bit, and we really like him."

Osborne is 12 credit hours shy of earning his undergraduate degree from UL, but Robichaux said his former pitching ace plans to be back on campus in the fall to complete his studies and graduate.