Oklahoma State University Athletics
Mario Pesca
Photo by: Oklahoma State University Athletics
Four Cowboys Selected On Final Day Of MLB Draft
July 12, 2026 | Cowboy Baseball
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State had four players picked on day two of the Major League Baseball Draft as Hudson Barrett, Mario Pesca, Avery Ortiz and Kollin Ritchie heard their names called on the draft's final day.
Five Cowboys were selected in the '26 draft as Alex Conover was a fourth-round pick of San Diego on Saturday. Barrett was an eighth-round pick by Colorado, while Pesca went in the ninth round to Cleveland. Ortiz was taken by Washington in the 18th round, and Ritchie rounded out OSU's draft selections when he went in the 20th and final round to St. Louis.
Ritchie, coming off an All-America junior season, has told OSU head coach Josh Holliday that he will not be signing a professional contract and will return for his senior season with the Cowboys in 2027.
OSU has had 82 MLB Draft picks under Holliday (since 2013), with 40 of those coming in the top 10 rounds. The Cowboys have had three or more players selected in the top 10 rounds in each of the last five drafts.
Barrett came to Stillwater in 2026 after three seasons at UC Santa Barbara. The southpaw made 13 appearances for the Pokes, nine of those as a starter, and went 6-1 with a team-leading 2.58 ERA while tallying 64 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings.
Pesca capped his two-year tenure as a Cowboy by making 19 appearances as a senior and posting a team-high seven wins to go along with a pair of saves. In 70 2/3 innings, the right-hander recorded 80 strikeouts.
In his OSU career, Pesca made 41 appearances, 18 as a starter, and went 14-8 with a pair of saves. He racked up 140 strikeouts in 137 1/3 innings of work.
Ortiz has battled injuries for much of his three seasons with the Cowboys. He has played in 92 career games and owns a .252 batting average, 16 home runs and 55 RBIs.
As a junior last season, Ortiz appeared in 20 games and hit .261 with four homers and 14 RBIs, and he was named to the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional All-Tournament Team.
Ritchie is coming off one of the greatest slugging seasons in OSU program history as he earned All-America honors and was a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy.
A center fielder from Atoka, Okla., Ritchie boasted a .326 batting average and smashed 31 home runs, the second most in a single season in program history. He ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA in homers (fourth), total bases (sixth at 185), slugging percentage (seventh at .804) and runs (seventh at 81), and he was 12th with 75 RBIs.
Ritchie became the fourth Cowboy to hit 30 or more homers in a season, and he turned in a pair of three-homer games to become the fifth player in OSU history to post multiple three-homer games in a career.
In three seasons at OSU, Ritchie has 53 home runs to put him in a tie for eighth on the program's career list.
Oklahoma State 2026 MLB Draft Picks
• Alex Conover, OF, 4th round, pick 134 – San Diego Padres
• Hudson Barrett, LHP, 8th round, pick 224 – Colorado Rockies
• Mario Pesca, RHP, 9th round, pick 273 – Cleveland Guardians
• Avery Ortiz, INF, 18th round, pick 526 – Washington Nationals
• Kollin Ritchie, OF, 20th round, pick 594 – St. Louis Cardinals
Five Cowboys were selected in the '26 draft as Alex Conover was a fourth-round pick of San Diego on Saturday. Barrett was an eighth-round pick by Colorado, while Pesca went in the ninth round to Cleveland. Ortiz was taken by Washington in the 18th round, and Ritchie rounded out OSU's draft selections when he went in the 20th and final round to St. Louis.
Ritchie, coming off an All-America junior season, has told OSU head coach Josh Holliday that he will not be signing a professional contract and will return for his senior season with the Cowboys in 2027.
OSU has had 82 MLB Draft picks under Holliday (since 2013), with 40 of those coming in the top 10 rounds. The Cowboys have had three or more players selected in the top 10 rounds in each of the last five drafts.
Barrett came to Stillwater in 2026 after three seasons at UC Santa Barbara. The southpaw made 13 appearances for the Pokes, nine of those as a starter, and went 6-1 with a team-leading 2.58 ERA while tallying 64 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings.
Pesca capped his two-year tenure as a Cowboy by making 19 appearances as a senior and posting a team-high seven wins to go along with a pair of saves. In 70 2/3 innings, the right-hander recorded 80 strikeouts.
In his OSU career, Pesca made 41 appearances, 18 as a starter, and went 14-8 with a pair of saves. He racked up 140 strikeouts in 137 1/3 innings of work.
Ortiz has battled injuries for much of his three seasons with the Cowboys. He has played in 92 career games and owns a .252 batting average, 16 home runs and 55 RBIs.
As a junior last season, Ortiz appeared in 20 games and hit .261 with four homers and 14 RBIs, and he was named to the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional All-Tournament Team.
Ritchie is coming off one of the greatest slugging seasons in OSU program history as he earned All-America honors and was a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy.
A center fielder from Atoka, Okla., Ritchie boasted a .326 batting average and smashed 31 home runs, the second most in a single season in program history. He ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA in homers (fourth), total bases (sixth at 185), slugging percentage (seventh at .804) and runs (seventh at 81), and he was 12th with 75 RBIs.
Ritchie became the fourth Cowboy to hit 30 or more homers in a season, and he turned in a pair of three-homer games to become the fifth player in OSU history to post multiple three-homer games in a career.
In three seasons at OSU, Ritchie has 53 home runs to put him in a tie for eighth on the program's career list.
Oklahoma State 2026 MLB Draft Picks
• Alex Conover, OF, 4th round, pick 134 – San Diego Padres
• Hudson Barrett, LHP, 8th round, pick 224 – Colorado Rockies
• Mario Pesca, RHP, 9th round, pick 273 – Cleveland Guardians
• Avery Ortiz, INF, 18th round, pick 526 – Washington Nationals
• Kollin Ritchie, OF, 20th round, pick 594 – St. Louis Cardinals
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