ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - For the ninth-straight year, the UCF baseball program had one of its players taken in the MLB First-Year Player Draft. Junior outfielder Matt Diorio and redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Andrew Deramo heard their names called on the third day of the 2016 MLB Draft.
Overall, the Knights have now had 93 players drafted by the MLB in the program's history. UCF has seen 56 players including Diorio selected in the first 20 rounds.
Diorio was taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the 495th overall pick in the 16th round. Diorio made 36 starts as a designated hitter, outfielder or catcher and notched 10 multi-hit and six multi-RBI games in his third year with the Knights.
The Staten Island, N.Y., native recorded .279 batting average with seven doubles, three homers and 22 RBI. The left-handed bat drove in a team-high 15 runs on six doubles and two homers in conference play.
The Toronto Blue Jays chose Deramo with the 882nd selection in the 29th round. Deramo made four starts and 18 appearances with the Knights after capturing the 2015 JUCO National Championship at Northwest Florida State College.
The Panama City, Fla., native compiled a 4.72 ERA on the campaign with 45 strikeouts in 40.0 innings of work. The righty found his groove in conference play and posted a 0.64 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 14 frames.
For head coach Terry Rooney, Diorio and Deramo become the 23rd and 24th player drafted since he arrived in Orlando in the summer of 2008.
Following the 2015 draft, Zach Rodgers inked a professional contract with the Blue Jays. UCF has also seen the Pirates take Darren Newlin (P, 17th round, 2005) and Tony Satterfield (P, 27th round, 1999), while Mark Michael (P), Matt Meath (OF) and Matt Amman (OF) inked free-agent contracts with Pittsburgh.