New Mexico State's OF Keith Jones II drafted by the Texas Rangers in ninth round

The Texas Rangers drafted New Mexico State's Keith Jones II in round nine with the 285th overall pick in the Major League Baseball Draft on Monday.

Jones, from Brentwood, Calif., becomes the first Aggie drafted by the Rangers in program history and the ninth Aggie to be drafted in the first ten rounds of the MLB draft.

The first team All-Conference USA member recorded a team-high .367 batting average while playing in the outfield. Jones also led the team in hits (81), home runs (17), runs (67), RBI (67), slugging percentage (.710) and walks (35) in his senior year.

The two-year letterwinner started 44 games during the 2023 season. In his junior year, Jones led the team in batting average with .377 and at-bats with 167. That season, Jones was named Second-team All-WAC.

Jones was the lone Aggie named to the Preseason All-CUSA before the 2024 season and the first Aggie to win Conference USA Hitter of the Week. Jones also ranked in the top three on average: OPS, runs, doubles, triples, RBI, total bases and slugging percentages in the conference.

Before suiting up for New Mexico State, he played at Washington State.

In recent years, several former Aggies have been drafted into pro baseball, including Daniel Johnson, Joey Ortiz, Nick Gonzales and Kyle Bradish. All four have played in the majors.

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Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on X.