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UB Baseball will be a pitcher shorter than expected next season. Junior Blair Lakso has signed a deal with the Minnesota Twins franchise and is likely headed to the franchise's Rookie League affiliate, the Elizabethton Twins.
Lakso averaged just under a strikeout per inning with the Bulls over the last two seasons after transferring in from Erie Community College, but took a big step forward this summer playing for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters, the South Division leaders in the Northwoods League in each half of this season and eventual league champions over the Eau Claire Express.
In Wisconsin, Lakso appeared in 32 innings over 24 games, improving his strikeout rate to 11.25/9, dropping his ERA to 1.40, and piling up six wins out of the bullpen. A piece in The Buffalo News on Blair's signing reports that his fastball velocity has improved to 95.
Elizabethton has just eleven games remaining on their 2016 schedule, including a doubleheader tonight, but hopefully we'll get to see at least a couple of appearances from the now-alumnus. Congrats, Blair!