June 9, 2005

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern first baseman Mark Ori (Niles, Ill./Maine South) was chosen on day one of the 2005 Major League Baseball Amateur draft. Ori was a 14th-round (434rd overall) selection of the Houston Astros.

Ori was one of twenty-seven Big Ten student-athletes chosen in the draft. Those 27 draftees is the greatest total in the last five years, a number that surpassed the previous high of 22 in 2004.

Ori is the 52nd Wildcat is school history to be drafted and the 40th under head coach Paul Stevens.

Ori ended the 2005 season with a .308 batting average and started every game at first base. He led the squad with 34 walks, which was also best in the Big Ten. He was third on the team with 62 total hits, which included eight doubles, two triples and three home runs. He drove in a career high 35 runs.

In his three years at NU, Ori has started 154 of 155 games and is a career .325 hitter.

As a junior, Ori has the option of returning for his senior season at NU. Division I baseball players are not eligible for the draft until after their junior seasons.