Former Illinois State pitcher Eric Eckenstahler signed his first professional baseball contract this week and will continue his career playing in the Detroit Tigers organization.
Selected in the 32nd round of 1999 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by Detroit, Eckenstahler opted not to sign a contract with the Tigers last year and returned to Illinois State for his senior season. Despite not signing with the Tigers in 1999, Eckenstahler still had the option of committing to the team up until the 2000 draft, an option he took advantage of when he agreed to terms with the Tigers earlier this week.
It feels great, Eckenstahler said. Im excited about the opportunity the Tigers gave me to play at the next level and Im anxious to see what I can do out there on the mound.
As a senior, the Lindenhurst native fanned a career-high 103 batters, a figure which ranked second on the Redbirds and third in the Missouri Valley Conference this year. That effort was also the fifth-highest single-season total in school history, giving Eckenstahler three of the top ten single-season strikeout efforts at ISU.
In addition to setting career highs for strikeouts and innings pitched (83.2) in 2000, Eckenstahler added the ISU career strikeout mark to an impressive ledger which already included a school record 16 complete games.
Eckenstahler not only broke the ISU career strikeout mark of 295 held by Mike Rzadski, he bested it by 18 to end his career with 313 whiffs, the eighth-highest total in Missouri Valley Conference history.
A second team All-Valley selection in 1997 and a first-team All-Valley selection in 1999, Eckenstahler was also a two-time Valley Pitcher of the Week during his career.
Equally impressive in the classroom, he garnered Prairie Farms/Valley Scholar-Athlete of the Week and first team All-Valley Scholar-Athlete honors during his senior campaign.
Eckenstahler and the West Michigan White Caps will be in Peoria to play a four-game series against the Chiefs on June 6-9.
