Spartan Baseball’s Mason Erla Selected In MLB Draft
7/13/2021 4:30:00 PM | Baseball
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Right-handed pitcher chosen by Los Angeles Angels.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State baseball's redshirt-junior pitcher Mason Erla was selected in the 17th round of the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft on Tuesday. Erla was selected in the 17th round (pick number 501) by the Los Angeles Angels.
With Erla's selection in the 2021 MLB Draft, MSU has had 35 draft selections under head coach Jake Boss Jr.
Erla, a native of Cass City, Mich., posted five wins in 13 starts in the 2021 season, leading MSU in 79.2 IP, ringing up a team-leading 80 strikeouts, which ranked tied for 10th in the B1G. He also ranked 10th in the conference with a 3.50 ERA. Erla was the Robin Roberts Most Valuable Pitcher MSU team award recipient for the second-straight season.
Erla was selected in the 17th round (pick number 501) by the Los Angeles Angels.
In 2021, the right-hander fired six or more strikeouts in 11 of his 13 starts, including seven or more in his first three starts. Erla rang up his season-high eight strikeouts in three different games, including two of his first three outings, highlighted by his match-up vs. Illinois on March 20 at the Ann Arbor pod weekend, firing 7.0 IP and eight strikeouts without a run, yielding a season-low of four hits, all singles, and only walking two. He had two appearances without allowing an earned run, with an outing on April 17 vs. Purdue joining the aforementioned outing vs. Illinois, as well as two appearances with only one earned run (April 9 vs. Penn State; May 21 at Rutgers).
Last season, Erla was named a Second-Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball after he posted a 2-0 record with a paltry 1.04 ERA in four starts, firing 42 strikeouts with only four overall runs allowed, with three earned, and just six walks in 26.0 IP. Erla ranked second in the B1G and 10th in the NCAA with 42 strikeouts, along with tied for sixth in the conference with eight strikeouts looking. He also ranked second in the league and 49th in the nation with a 1.04 ERA, and ranked 16th in conference with a .211 batting average against. Erla also ranked fourth in the B1G and tied for 30th in the NCAA with 14.54 strikeouts per nine innings, as well as being ranked tied for fourth in the league and 74th in the nation with a 7.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The 80 strikeouts in the 2021 season give Erla 243 for his career, now No. 3 MSU's career list, the most since Tony Bucciferro's 273 Ks (2009-12), and behind record-holder Bryan Gale (2001-04) with 277. Erla became just the fifth pitcher in MSU history to reach the 200 strikeout plateau, topping the 200 K mark on with seven strikeouts on April 9 vs. Penn State. In his next outing, on April 17 vs. Purdue, Erla passed Cam Vieaux (2014-16) at 202 Ks for the No. 4 spot on the list and took over the No. 3 spot from Ron Perranoski (1956-58) with 223 strikeouts on May 7 vs. Michigan with his third eight-K outing.
The Spartans had four players drafted in the 2019 MLB Draft: Mitchell Tyranski was selected in the 12th round (pick number 371 overall) by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Indigo Diaz was selected in the 27th round (pick number 871 overall) by the Atlanta Braves and Marty Bechina was selected in the 32nd round (pick number 974 overall) by the Oakland Athletics.
In 2018, Riley McCauley was selected in the 14th round (pick number 428 overall) by the Chicago Cubs. In 2017, three former MSU players were selected MLB Draft: Alex Troop (Washington, ninth round, 283 overall), Brandon Hughes (Chicago Cubs, 16th round, 495 overall), Nathan Witt (Los Angeles Dodgers, 17th round, 520 overall) and Joe Mockbee (Chicago White Sox, 29th round, 867 overall).
MSU had four juniors selected in the 2016 draft: Cam Vieaux (sixth round, Pittsburgh), Jordan Zimmerman (seventh round, Los Angeles Angles), Dakota Mekkes (10th round, Chicago Cubs) and Matt Byars (24th round, Minnesota). The year prior, a school-record eight players were taken in 2015: Cam Gibson (fifth round, Detroit), Ryan Krill (ninth round, New York Yankees), Anthony Misiewicz (18th round, Seattle), Cam Vieaux (19th round, Detroit), Jeff Kinley (28th round, Miami), Mick VanVossen (28th round, Washington), Blaise Salter (31st round, Detroit) and Mark Weist (37th round, San Francisco).
