Florida Gators outfielder Harrison Bader drafted by St. Louis

On Tuesday the St. Louis Cardinals selected Florida Gators junior outfielder Harrison Bader with the 100th overall selection in the 2015 MLB Draft.

Bader began the season red-hot but cooled off towards the middle of the season and enters the College World Series hitting .292. Bader is second on the team in RBI (61), home runs (15), doubles (14) and has a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in left field this season.

Bader slumped through the end of the season and the beginning of the SEC Tournament but found his stroke in the final two games in Hoover. He’s hitting .309 in five NCAA Tournament games, including a 3-9 (.333) series in the Super Regional against FSU that included a home run.

Bader led the Gators in batting as a freshman (.312) and as sophomore (.337). Bader earned Freshman All-SEC honors in 2013 and was a second-team All-SEC selection in 2014.

Bader will join former teammate and Florida Gators infielder, Casey Turgeon, who was selected by the Cardinals last year.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC