
Lincoln – After senior Tanner Lubach was taken by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the ninth round of the 2015 MLB Draft on Tuesday, three more Huskers and two Husker signees heard their names called on Wednesday.
Senior Blake Headley was the first Husker to come off the board on the final day of the Draft when he was taken with the eighth pick in the 20th round by the Chicago Cubs. Senior Josh Roeder soon followed when the New York Yankees took NU’s all-time saves leader with the 18thpick in the 21st round. Junior Colton Howell then became NU’s lone underclassman to be picked when the San Diego Padres selected him with the 12th pick in the 27th round. Nebraska also saw a pair of future Huskers get selected. In the 28th round the Arizona Diamondbacks took Cedar Lake, Ind., product Jesse Wilkening and in the 39th round the New York Mets took Altoona, Pa., native Chad Luensmann.
With four Huskers picked in the 2015 MLB Draft, Nebraska has had at least three players picked in 16 of the last 17 Drafts dating back to 1999. The four Huskers picked were the most since 2012 when five players were picked. None of the four Huskers picked in the 2015 MLB Draft had been drafted before.
2015 MLB Draft Picks
Tanner Lubach | SR | C (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – 9th Round)
Named second-team All-Big Ten this season, Tanner Lubach finished second on the team with a career-best .312 batting average. He tied for the team lead in home runs with four, hit 10 doubles, one triple and was third on the team with 26 RBIs. Lubach was even better at the plate during Big Ten play with a .369 batting average, while starting 23 of NU’s 24 league games.
A Johnny Bench Award candidate each of the last two seasons, Lubach was one of the best defensive catchers in the Big Ten during his three seasons at Nebraska. Lubach finished his career second in Husker history in runners caught stealing with 44, just two behind Cory Burleson’s school record of 46. He posted a .993 career fielding percentage, with only six errors in 918 chances. In 138 career starts, Lubach allowed just 13 passed balls, including only two in 2015.
Blake Headley | SR | 3B (Chicago Cubs – 20th Round)
A two-time All-Big Ten performer, Blake Headley led the Huskers in both doubles (18) and RBIs (41) in 2015. The Omaha native improved his RBI total each season at Nebraska, starting with six as a freshman, then 25 as a sophomore, 27 as a junior and 41 as a senior to end his career with 99 RBIs. Headley played in 184 games during his four-year career, including 158 starts. He ended his career with a .294 batting average, 32 doubles, seven triples and five home runs. Headley saw most of his time at third base during his career at NU, but also played first base during his junior year in 2014. He committed just 18 errors in 718 chances during his career, posting a .975 fielding percentage.
Josh Roeder | SR | RHP (New York Yankees – 21st Round)
A member of both the Stopper-of-the-Year and College Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher-of-the-Year watch lists in 2015, Josh Roeder earned third-team All-Big Ten honors following another stellar season as Nebraska’s closer. The Plano, Texas, native set a new career record at Nebraska for saves with 33, while saving a single-season-best 15 games this season. Roeder ended the year with 28 strikeouts to three walks in 20.0 innings over 20 appearances.
Colton Howell | JR | RHP (San Diego Padres – 27th Round)
Colton Howell had a breakout season in 2015 and served at Nebraska’s setup man out of the bullpen. The 6-1 righty ended the year with a 2.08 ERA in 30.1 innings over 25 appearances, with 31 strikeouts. Opposing hitters produced a .215 average off of Howell in 2015 after hitting over .300 in each of the last two seasons. Howell’s 25 appearances easily set a career high, as he made a combined 22 appearances during his first two seasons at Nebraska. Howell earned saves in NU wins over Hawaii and Michigan in 2015, his only career saves.
Jesse Wilkening | HS (Cedar Lake, Ind. – Hanover Central) | C (Arizona Diamondbacks – 28th Round)
Jesse Wilkening hit .495 with eight home runs and 38 RBIs for Hanover Central High School in 2015. The 5-10 catcher ended his prep career with an Indiana state-record 206 career hits, breaking the previous state record of 202 held by Adam Norton, who went on to play at Notre Dame. A top-250 nationally-ranked catcher, Perfect Game ranks Wilkening as the No. 41 overall player in the state of Indiana. Wilkening competed at the 2014 Perfect Game WWBA 17u National Championships for Gravel Baseball and the 2013 Perfect Game WWBA Underclass World Championships for the Evoshield Seminoles.
Chad Luensmann | HS (Altoona, Pa. – Bellwood-Antis HS) | RHP (New York Mets – 39thRound)
Ranked as one of the top 120 right-handed pitching prospects in the country by Perfect Game, Chad Luensmann pitched for Bellwood-Antis High School in Altoona, Pa. Luensmann tossed a five-inning perfect game in a 11-0 win over Moshannon Valley in early May, as the 6-3 right hander struck out 14 of the 15 batters he faced. Luensmann was a honorable-mention All-American by Perfect Game in 2015 and a 2014 underclass honorable-mention All-American. He was named to the all-tournament team at the 2014 Perfect Game WWBA World Championships in Jupiter, Fla. And competed at the 2014 Area Code Games in Long Beach, Calif. The last time the Huskers has a player on their roster from Pennsylvania was 1983 when Dave Bailor (Connellsville, Pa.) was a senior.