Dominguez, Marks Each Selected in Third Round of MLB Draft
June 10, 2009 | Baseball
June 9, 2009
SECAUCUS, N.J. - Two of the greatest players to ever wear the University of Louisville baseball uniform officially ended their collegiate careers on Tuesday night as junior third baseman Chris Dominguez and junior lefty Justin Marks were each selected in the third round of the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft and will sign professional contracts.
Dominguez, a 6-4, 240-pound native of Miami, Fla., was selected 86th overall by the San Francisco Giants, while Marks, a 6-3, 195-pound native of Owensboro, Ky., was selected 92nd overall by the Oakland Athletics on the first day of the MLB Draft, which will continue on Wednesday with rounds 4-30 and will conclude on Thursday with rounds 31-50.
Dominguez is a two-time and reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year and was a Louisville Slugger First Team All-American selection by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper in 2009. After being selected in the fifth round of the 2008 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies, Dominguez returned to the Cardinals for 2009 and delivered another impressive season as he matched a Louisville single season record with 25 home runs, finished with career highs in RBI (82) and stolen bases (19-of-25) and hit .345 overall.
After arriving in Louisville as one of the most highly regarded recruits in school history, Dominguez lived up to the hype leading the Cardinals to their most successful three-year stretch ever and setting numerous records along the way. Dominguez departs Louisville as the program's career leader in RBI with 218 and ranks second in home runs (61), second in runs scored (196), tied for sixth in hits (252), seventh in stolen bases (39), seventh in at bats (788) and 10th in doubles (45).
Marks was named the 2009 BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year and a Louisville Slugger Second Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper during his junior season. He closed his highly successful three-year career as a Cardinal by going 11-3 overall with 129 strikeouts in 105.0 innings and a 3.77 ERA. The 11 wins is a single season school record, while the 129 strikeouts rank second on the Cards' single season list.
After making a splash on the national scene with a win in Omaha during the Cards' magical run to the College World Series in 2007, Marks finished his career with a 29-7 record overall and is Louisville's career leader in wins (29), strikeouts (305), ERA (2.96) and starts (48).
Dominguez and Marks teamed to lead Louisville to its best three-year run in school history from 2007-09. During that stretch, the Cardinals made three-straight NCAA Championship appearances, advanced to a pair of NCAA Super Regionals in 2007 and 2009, one College World Series appearance in 2007, won back-to-back BIG EAST Tournament titles, won the program's first ever BIG EAST regular-season title in 2009, won a school record 47 games in 2007 and 2009 and earned the program's first ever 40-win regular season in 2009.
The Cardinals closed out their 2009 season on Saturday with an NCAA Super Regional loss at No. 2 Cal State Fullerton. Louisville finished with a 47-18 record overall after sweeping the BIG EAST Conference regular season and tournament titles. U of L advanced to its second Super Regional in three years after earning a 5-3 win over Vanderbilt in the title game of the NCAA Regional at Jim Patterson Stadium, the first ever NCAA Baseball Regional in Louisville.
