Southeast Missouri State ace pitcher Joey Lucchesi waits to hear name called in MLB Draft

This time last year, Southeast Missouri State baseball coach Steve Bieser had a strong feeling that pitcher Joey Lucchesi was going to be the highest player drafted from his team.

Forty rounds of the MLB Draft came and went, and Lucchesi, who had just wrapped up his junior season with the Redhawks, had surprisingly not been selected.

It was a blessing for Southeast, as Lucchesi was able to replicate the success -- with even better numbers -- and help the team to its first Ohio Valley Conference tournament title and NCAA regional berth since 2002, and now there's no doubt Lucchesi will be picked at some point during the 2016 MLB Draft.

Bieser said he's heard some teams could take Lucchesi as high as the third round as "a good senior sign and a way for their organization to kind of control their allotment and their money," and he expects that Lucchesi will be off the board once the first 10 rounds have concluded.

The first two rounds of the draft begin at 6 p.m. today and will be broadcast on MLB Network and MLB.com.

Southeast Missouri State's Joey Lucchesi sends a pitch to home plate during last week's NCAA regional game against Mississippi State in Starkville, Mississippi.Mary Alice Truitt ~ Columbus Dispatch

Rounds 3-10 are on MLB.com beginning at noon Friday, and rounds 11-40 begin at 11 a.m. Saturday on MLB.com.

Bieser has continued to field calls from scouts and answer questions about his ace lefty in the days leading up to the start of the draft.

"They see the numbers. They know the numbers are great," Bieser said. "Most of the time when it's at that level and they're thinking about using a pick that early in the draft, they want to know about character. They want to know about work ethic. They want to know about all those intangible things that they're not there to see every single day. Those are really the biggest questions that we get for most of our guys.

"They come in, they see the players, they like the physical side of it and then they want to know, 'Does this guy have the mentality to go out and play professional baseball?' because you talk about a grind -- it's everything about a grind plus a little bit more. ... It's been a passion, something that you love to do all your life, but it does become a job. And you've got to be willing to sacrifice and put everything into that, but it's also rewarding. You get to do something that you love."

The 6-foot-4, 218-pound Lucchesi rewrote the Southeast and OVC record books during his two-year college career.

He became the first player to repeat as the OVC Pitcher of the Year and was also named the MVP of the OVC tournament. He's since added first-team Louisville Slugger All-American -- the first in program history -- and third-team Baseball America All-American.

He leads all of Division I baseball with 149 strikeouts, breaking Southeast's previous single-season record of 130 held by Ryan Spille since 1998 and the OVC's record of 133 held by Tennessee Tech's Todd Kemp since 1986.

His 17 strikeouts against Murray State on April 28 tied Southeast's single-game record.

In the final game of his college career -- a 9-5 loss to Mississippi State in the regional opener last Friday -- he became Southeast's all-time career strikeout leader. He compiled 242 in two seasons to surpass Southeast Hall of Famer Trae Hastings, who struck out 239 from 1975-78.

The Newark, California, native, who transferred from Chabot College in Hayward, California, posted a 10-5 record in his final season and recorded one save in the championship game of the OVC tournament. He finished with an OVC-best ERA of 2.19 this season.

"I mean, we thought Joey had some ability and knew that he was going to help us on the pitching staff and have a good role, but I think when you really take a step back and you look at it, you realize what he's really done -- from a standpoint of solidifying our rotation for two straight years as the No. 1 guy and really not having a whole lot of hype about him in the California area," Bieser said. "Everybody out there overlooked him and there wasn't a ton of competition for us; he didn't have a lot of options.

"To take a guy like that and see the success that he's had and what he's meant to our program, it's just a pleasant surprise. He's been big for us, and I think we've been big for him as well just from a developmental side."

Bieser and his staff have had success developing players into professional prospects. Left-handed pitcher Alex Winkelman was drafted in the 21st round by the Houston Astros last year and recently was promoted to the Class A Advanced affiliate Lancaster (California) Jethawks.

First baseman Matt Tellor was taken in the 10th round of the 2014 draft by the Atlanta Braves but recently asked for his release from the organization. Outfielder Derek Gibson went undrafted that season but later signed with the St. Louis Cardinals, who he played for until he was released a few months ago. He advanced as high as AA.

Right-handed pitcher Shae Simmons and third baseman Trenton Moses, who both played for coach Mark Hogan, were both drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2012. Moses advanced to the high A Lynchburg (Virginia) Hillcats but was released after an injury in 2014.

Simmons quickly made his way through the Braves' minor-league system and made his big-league debut on May 31, 2014. He missed the entire 2015 season with Tommy John surgery and is currently completing rehab assignments before his return to the majors.

"I'm really proud of the development that guys are making in our program, and I think it says something about the coaches that we have in our program to bring these guys in and make them that next-level player," Bieser said. "It all comes back to [the players]. They're guys that are willing to put the hard work in and do what it takes. It's exciting to see that development from my standpoint, but like I said, it's so rewarding to see that all the hard work they put in really has paid off for these guys.

"It's a big feather in our cap as a program, the fact that we can bring guys and develop them into that next-level player, and I think we'll continue to see success in that and we'll see guys continue to get more and more opportunities out of our program. Because I think one of the things that the pro people are talking about and that are excited about is when they get one of our players, they know that they're prepared both mentally and physically to go out and compete very well for their first couple years."

Senior shortstop Branden Boggetto has received interest from a handful of teams along with senior outfielder/first baseman Garrett Gandolfo and junior outfielder Chris Osborne. Left-handed pitcher Jake Busiek has received moderate interest from a couple of clubs.

"We're keeping our fingers crossed and hoping it works out for our guys and gives them that opportunity because that's something that when they came here, that's something that they wanted to do," Bieser said. "They wanted to elevate their game and get to that next level and continue to play this game. We're excited for it. It's nice to know that it's going to happen for at least one of your players and very hopeful that it could happen for four or five."