UCSB shortstop Brandon Trinkwon was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the seventh round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Taken as the 214th overall pick, Trinkwon is the highest drafted position player from the Gauchos since 2006.
Trinkwon, a second team All-Big West selection, finished the year with a .280 average and a .367 on-base percentage. He finished the year with the most runs scored on the team (40) and ranked second in home runs (four), RBIs (37) and extra-base hits (14). He led the team by a wide margin with 30 walks.
He was an outstanding fielder, posting a .968 fielding percentage in 2013. At one point in the season he had an 18-game errorless streak.
The Tustin, Calif. native caught the eyes of scouts in 2012, when he hit a career-best .347 with 40 walks and 22 extra-base hits. He was chosen as an All-Big West Second Teamer that year as well. That summer, he started in the Cape Cod League All-Star Game after compiling a .301 batting average with 33 RBIs for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks.
Trinkwon is the highest UCSB position player taken since Chris Valaika was selected in the third round by the Cincinnati Reds in 2006.
Tyler Mahle, younger brother of current Gaucho Greg Mahle and a UCSB commit, was also selected in the seventh round by the Reds.
The final day of the draft will commence tomorrow at 10 a.m. Pacific time, featuring rounds 11-40.
