Jacob Berry selected in first round by Marlins

BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU sophomore infielder Jacob Berry was selected Sunday night in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Miami Marlins. Berry, who became the 20th first-round selection in LSU history, was the No. 6 pick overall in the draft, which is being conducted in Los Angeles.

Berry is LSU’s highest overall selection since 2015, when infielder Alex Bregman was chosen No. 2 overall by the Houston Astros. Berry is LSU’s first 1st-round selection since 2017, when right-handed pitcher Alex Lange was the No. 30 overall selection by the Chicago Cubs.

Berry, a product of Queen Creek, Ariz., is the seventh LSU player to be selected within the first 10 picks of the draft. He was a 2022 Golden Spikes Award semifinalist, a second-team All-America performer and second-team All-SEC selection as he batted a team-high .370 with nine doubles, 15 homers, 48 RBI and 47 runs.

Berry hit a conference-best .400 (38-for-95) in LSU’s SEC regular-season games with three doubles, five homers, 20 RBI and 18 runs.

He led LSU to a series win over Georgia (April 29-May 1), batting .462 (6-for-13) in three games with one double, one homer and three RBI. With LSU trailing Georgia, 3-2, entering the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 3, Berry started the Tigers’ comeback with a single and scored when Cade Doughty followed with a two-run walk-off homer.

Berry led LSU to a three-game sweep of Missouri (April 21-23), batting .600 (6-for-10) with three homers, four RBI and five runs. He was 3-for-4 with two homers, two RBI and three runs in Game 1 victory, and he was 2-for-3 at the plate in Game 3 with a homer, two RBI and two runs scored.

He was named a Collegiate Baseball newspaper National Player of the Week on March 14 after he paced LSU to four wins in four games during the week of March 9-13. Berry batted .500 (9-for-18) in four games with one double, three homers, seven RBI and seven runs.

Berry played his freshman season at Arizona, where he earned 2021 National Freshman of the Year recognition while batting .352 with 54 runs scored, 19 doubles, five triples, 17 home runs and 70 RBI.