An Ashland University pitcher made history recently. Right-hander Hunter Allen just joined an elite group of Eagles to become MLB draftees.
On Monday, the Baltimore Orioles selected Allen with the 214th overall pick in the 7th round of the MLB Draft. And, as Dusty Sloan of goashlandeagles.com reports, he is among the earliest of the Ashland draft picks.
The 6-foot-4 righty from Woodville, Ohio (a village of about 2,000 people about 20 miles southeast of Toledo) finished his senior year at AU with a 7-1 record, a 3.96 ERA, and 84 strikeouts against 37 walks in 61 1/3 innings. His opponents’ batting average? A very respectable .213 BAA.
After being used as more of a spot starter for the Eagles during his first year with the club in 2024, Allen stepped into the role of essentially the no. 3 starter in the 2025 rotation.
Why did I say first year?
Allen transferred to AU in 2024 from Owens Community College, in the greater Toledo-Findlay area.
However, he’s not the first Ashland University athlete to find success.
In fact, as the press release on Monday noted, Allen is the ninth AU baseball player to be selected in an MLB draft.
The other eight are in this order, starting with the most recent:
Ashland University MLB Draftees
2016 – Pitcher Brandyn Sittinger (Taken by Detroit Tigers in the 17th round)
2015 – Pitcher Art Warren (Taken by Seattle Mariners in 23rd round)
1989 – Pitcher Troy Mooney (Taken by Pittsburgh Pirates in 41st round)
1981 – Catcher Dan Phillip (Taken by Detroit Tigers in 27th round)
1974 – Pitcher Randy Fierbaugh (Taken by Montreal Expos in 5th round)
1974 – Outfielder Jim Ray (Taken by San Francisco Giants in 13th round)
1973 – Pitcher Ken Kravec (Taken by Chicago White Sox in 3rd round)
1969 – Shortstop John Colunio (Taken by New York Yankees in 14th round)
Out of the list, only Warren and Kravec were able to experience any sort of success at the Major League level. Hopefully, Allen will be able to strike gold himself.
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