FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Kansas City Royals selected junior shortstop Julio Gonzalez in the 17th round of the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft Wednesday afternoon.

Gonzalez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Seminole State College/Brito Miami Private HS) was the second Eagle to hear his named called at the 2017 MLB Draft as he was selected with the 510th overall pick – 19 spots after teammate Kutter Crawford was selected by the Boston Red Sox. He also becomes head coach Dave Tollett's 28th draft pick in the 15-year history of the program and is the fifth highest position player to be selected in program history.

Gonzalez is the first player in FGCU history to be selected by the Kansas City Royals. However, former pitcher Casey Coleman became the first Eagle to reach the Big Leagues as he made his MLB debut with the Royals in 2010.

A first-year player for the Green and Blue after spending two seasons at Seminole State College in Oklahoma, Gonzalez led the Eagles with a .326 average, which ranked eighth in the ASUN, and went on to be named 2017 ASUN First Team All-Conference at shortstop. The Puerto Rico native also led the conference in hits (84) and ranked in the top-10 in the league in other offensive categories as he registered tied for second in triples (four), tied for eighth in doubles (15) and tied for ninth in walks (34).

The junior shortstop not only came through in the clutch with a pair of game-winning hits against then #2 Florida and Miami this season, but also played a vital role in the Eagles' come-from-behind win that sealed the first ASUN Tournament Championship in program history. Trailing 3-1 and down to its final two outs in the ASUN Tournament Final against Jacksonville, Gonzalez hit a two-RBI single back up the middle to tie the game before FGCU eventually defeated the Dolphins, 4-3, in 10 innings to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, in a 13-4 win against Rutgers on Mar. 18, Gonzalez became the first player in program history to hit for the cycle.

Described as one of the best defensive shortstops in program history, Gonzalez was one of two members of the Green and Blue to play and start in all 63 games this season. He turned in a .949 fielding percentage and was credited with a team-high 182 infield assists and 99 putouts.

Below is a list of FGCU's all-time draft picks and free agent signees.

FGCU DRAFT HISTORY

Year	Player	Rd.	Pick	Team	Pos.
2004	Chris Brown*	N/A	N/A	Minnesota Twins	OF/1B
2005	Billy Phillips*	N/A	N/A	Boston Red Sox	RHP
2006	Justin Stiver	17	519	Houston Astros	RHP
	Jason Louwsma	29	864	Cincinnati Reds	3B
	Ryan Williams*	N/A	N/A	Cincinnati Reds	LHP
2007	Luis Pardo	9	291	Houston Astros	RHP
	Jason Kiley	25	784	New York Yankees	RHP
	Justin Miller*	N/A	N/A	Detroit Tigers	RHP
2008	Richard Bleier	6	183	Texas Rangers	LHP
	Casey Coleman	15	461	Chicago Cubs	RHP
	Jason Peacock	26	778	Florida Marlins	1B
2010	Chris Sale	1	13	Chicago White Sox	LHP
	Pete Woodworth*	N/A	N/A	Tampa Bay Rays	RHP
2011	Granden Goetzman#	2	75	Tampa Bay Rays	OF
	Jacob Barnes	14	431	Milwaukee Brewers	RHP
	Jack Wagoner	33	998	Cleveland Indians	RHP
	Stephen Wickens	33	1018	Minnesota Twins	SS
	Zach Maxfield*	N/A	N/A	Detroit Tigers	1B
	Tim Roberson*	N/A	N/A	Boston Red Sox	C
2012	Jason Forjet	31	958	San Francisco Giants	RHP
2013	Harrison Cooney	6	187	Los Angeles Angels	RHP
	Brandon Bednar	7	222	San Francisco Giants	2B/SS
	Ricky Knapp	8	236	New York Mets	RHP
	Sean Dwyer	11	319	Colorado Rockies	OF/1B
	Brandon Bixler	16	470	Minnesota Twins	LHP
	Mike Reeves	21	625	Toronto Blue Jays	C
	Kyle Buchanan	40	1214	New York Yankees	OF
2014	Michael Suchy	5	161	Pittsburgh Pirates	OF
	Dash Winningham#	8	235	New York Mets	1B/LHP
	Zach Tillery	13	380	Minnesota Twins	RHP
	Ryan Atwood	30	897	San Diego Padres	LHP
2015	Michael Murray	32	968	Oakland Athletics	RHP
	Jordan Desguin	36	1081	Milwaukee Brewers	RHP
	Nick Rivera^	38	1129	Houston Astros	1B/DH
2016	Jake Noll	7	214	Washington Nationals	2B
	Dimas Ojeda#	17	507	Seattle Mariners	OF
	Brady Anderson*	N/A	N/A	Minnesota Twins	RHP
	Tyler Selesky*	N/A	N/A	San Diego Padres	INF/OF
2017	Michael Lagrange*	N/A	N/A	Texas Rangers	LHP
	Kutter Crawford	16	491	Boston Red Sox	RHP
	Julio Gonzalez	17	510	Kansas City Royals	SS

# - Committed but did not attend FGCU
* - Signed as an undrafted free agent
^ - Elected to return for senior season

FOLLOW ALONG
For constant, news, photos, videos and updates you can follow the baseball team on Twitter @FGCU_Baseball, Instagram @FGCU_Baseball or on Facebook: Facebook.com/FGCUBaseball. You can also find FGCU athletics on YouTube by visiting YouTube.com/FGCUEagles.

DAVE TOLLETT
Following his 15th season of work, FGCU head coach Dave Tollett has compiled a 533-316-3 record (.626) as the only head coach in the program's history and is coming off the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament. He is a four-time ASUN Coach of the Year and has guided the Green and Blue to four ASUN Regular Season Championships and one ASUN Tournament Championship. His team has been ranked nationally on several occasions, including as high as #9 in the country in 2017, and has coached 49 All-Conference selections, 28 draft picks, three current major leaguers, 15 current minor leaguers, four ASUN Pitchers of the Year, four All-Americans, three ASUN Players of the Year, one National Freshman Player of the Year, one National Player of the Year and one five-time MLB All-Star.

#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.