Nate Soria Signs Professional Contract with Tampa Bay Rays

CINCINNATI - Xavier baseball senior catcher Nate Soria signed a professional contract with the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, giving XU a third player with the opportunity to play at the next level this summer.

Soria was named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List twice in his career and hit .270 with eight homers and 26 RBI as a senior. He also led the team in stolen bases, going 13-for-14 in steal attempts.

A two-time BIG EAST Champion, Soria was a .265 hitter in his career. The Homer Glen, Ill. native was a lineup mainstay over his four years, appearing in 213 games and collecting 21 homers and 111 RBI.

As a freshman, Soria was pressed into duty after an injury to all-conference catcher Dan Rizzie and responded with a superlative rookie year. He was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year after hitting .335 and catching 44.4 percent of would-be base stealers.

In 2016, Soria was named All-BIG EAST First Team after hitting .333 in league play and ranking third on the team with 16 multi-hit games while primarily playing right field.

Earlier this week, Conor Grammes and Kody Darcy were selected in the 2018 MLB First Year Player Draft. Xavier baseball has now produced seven draft picks and 10 total professionals in the last three years.

NEXT-LEVEL MUSKETEERS

• Lefty pitcher Zac Lowther was the highest-ever selection by a Xavier baseball player in last year's draft, going in the second round compensatory selections at 74th overall. XU's previous high pick was Seth Willoughby, who was drafted in the fourth round in 2012 by the Colorado Rockies.
• Xavier had a program record four players selected in the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Additionally, two committed players were taken in the draft for the first time in program history.
• Xavier's four draft picks were: Zac Lowther (Comp. Round B, 74th pick, Baltimore Orioles), Rylan Bannon (8th Round, 250th pick, LA Dodgers), Garrett Schilling (18th Round, 536th pick, Colorado Rockies), Greg Jacknewitz (22nd Round, 666th pick, San Francisco Giants)
• XU has at least one draft pick in three straight seasons. In addition to the four players selected in 2017, XU had two draft picks in 2016 in Dan Rizzie and Andre Jernigan.
• Xavier has had at least one player drafted in 12 of the last 14 years.
• 17 total XU players have been drafted since 2005.

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