Mariners draft Prairie grad Ard

It appears that the third time will be the charm for Prairie graduate Taylor Ard.

Ard, a first baseman for Washington State, was selected in the seventh round by the Seattle Mariners on the second day of the MLB first-year player draft.

Ard was the third player taken in the seventh round and the 221st overall. It is the earliest a WSU player has been taken in the draft since John Olerud went in the third round of the 1989 draft to the Blue Jays.

It is the third time Ard has been drafted.

He was drafted by the Marlins out of Mt. Hood Community College in 2010, and selected by the Red Sox in the 25th round last year.

“I’m pretty happy,” Ard told wsucougars.com. “Didn’t regret coming back (to WSU). It was good to get my schooling done. And now I’m playing with the Mariners, who were pretty much my team growing up. So it’s pretty exciting, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Ard was an All-Pacific-12 Conference selection after hitting 12 home runs, 50 RBI and batting .332 for the Cougars last season.

Ard said he heard there is a possibility that he will be assigned to Everett of the Northwest League.