June 4, 2002

HOUSTON, Texas - University of Houston catcher Chris Snyder and shortstop/relief pitcher Jesse Crain were drafted in the second round during Tuesday's amateur baseball draft.

Crain was taken as the No. 61 pick overall by the Minnesota Twins, while Snyder was picked by the defending World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks with the No. 68 overall selection.

The Cougar duo became the fourth and fifth players in school history to be taken in the second round. Mike Walker (Pittsburgh), Steve Cummings (Toronto) and Paul Kuzniar (Cleveland) were all taken in the second round of the 1986 draft.

Both Snyder and Crain have been major reasons for the success of the Cougars, who have earned a No. 6 national ranking in the latest Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball polls and face No. 3 Texas this weekend in the NCAA Super Regional at Austin.

This season, Snyder leads the team with a .347 batting average and set a new UH single-season record with 70 RBIs. He is one of only four players in Conference USA to be ranked among the top 10 individual leaders in all three Triple Crown categories.

Crain has emerged as a threat for the Cougars offensively and on the mound. In 2002, the Boulder, Colo., native has batted .317 with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs.

However, he has also been equally effective on the mound, where he has assembled a 4-0 record with a UH single-season record nine saves and 41 strikeouts in 34.0 innings. In addition, he has not allowed an earned run to score during the entire season and has not allowed any runs to score in his last 33.0 innings, the second longest consecutive-inning streak in UH history.

Both Snyder and Crain lead the Cougars into the NCAA Super Regional at Austin this weekend. The best-of-three series begins with 7 p.m. games on Friday and Saturday and concludes with a 1 p.m. contest Sunday, if necessary.