ORLANDO, Fla. – For the 13th straight year, the UCF baseball team had representation in the Major League Baseball Draft. Jeff Hakanson, a Tampa, Fla. native, heard his name called by the team he grew up watching – the Tampa Bay Rays. In the fifth and final round of the shortened 2020 MLB Draft, Hakanson was selected as the 155th overall pick.
The moment Tampa, FL native Jeff Hakanson heard his name called in the 2020 MLB Draft #BuiltByUCF
Posted by UCF Baseball on Friday, June 12, 2020
"It's just incredible. There's no way really to put it into words. Going to Rays games as a kid and just hoping one day to be out there," Hakanson said. "It's just incredible to be drafted by my hometown team."
The Tampa Jesuit High School grad was lights out for the Knights in 2020, collecting 20 strikeouts across 8.1 innings of work in relief. Hakanson proved to be one of the best closers in the nation, tied for the most saves in the country with six when the 2020 campaign came to an unexpected end.
With his selection, Jeff Hakanson becomes the 108th draft pick in UCF baseball's 47 year history, and the program's 19th pick in the first five rounds of the MLB Draft. Hakanson joins Taylor Cobb (P, 42nd Round, 2005) as the only two Knights picked by the Tampa Bay Rays organization.
Hak's headed home! ??@jhakanson18 picked by @RaysBaseball in the fifth round ??#BuiltByUCF ? pic.twitter.com/eXX7Fkwdve
— UCF Baseball (@UCF_Baseball) June 12, 2020