Missouri's Tanner Houck joined some elite company among former Tigers on Monday during the first night of the Major League Baseball draft.
The junior right-handed pitcher was selected 24th overall by the Boston Red Sox, becoming Missouri's seventh first-round pick in the draft.
Four of the Tigers' first-round picks have come in the past dozen years. The last one to do so was Kyle Gibson, who was selected 22nd overall by the Minnesota Twins in 2009.
Max Scherzer was picked 11th by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2006 and Aaron Crow was twice a first-round selection in the draft, going ninth to the Washington Nationals in 2008 and then 12th the following season to the Kansas City Royals.
Houck played three seasons for the Tigers and ranks fourth in program history with 292 career strikeouts. He is only the second Missouri pitcher to surpass 300 innings pitched. He went at least six innings in 37 of his 44 career starts.
Although he posted a career 3.26 ERA at Missouri, Houck finished with a 17-18 record, only finishing with a winning record his freshman year at 8-5. Opponents batted .220 against Houck, who had seven complete games and two shutouts.
In 2017, Houck was 4-7 with a 3.33 ERA and 95 strikeouts. He pitched three complete games in 14 starts.
The draft lasted two rounds Monday. Rounds 3-10 will take place today and rounds 11-40 are Wednesday.
Houck wasn't the only player who played collegiately in the state of Missouri selected Monday.
Missouri State junior Jake Burger was picked 11th overall by the Chicago White Sox after leading the Bears to the NCAA Super Regionals this past weekend. He is the sixth Missouri State player selected in the first round.
Burger, who played high school baseball at C.B.C., compiled a .328 batting average in 2017 with 65 RBI and 69 runs scored in 63 games. He also slugged 22 home runs and drew 43 walks.