Pitt baseball ace T.J. Zeuch has been steadily climbing in the projections for this year's MLB Draft. In a recent mock draft, Baseball America now has the Panthers' pitcher going to the hometown Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round with the No. 22 overall selection.

Zeuch leads the team and has been steamrolling his competition for the most part. He got off to a fast start and his 6-1 record and 3.11 ERA are tops on the team as are his strikeouts (56). He has a strikeout/IP ratio above 1.0 and opponents are hitting only .219 off of him.

Pitt has had several players drafted in recent memory, but having one in the first round would be special and a boost for the program playing in the difficult ACC and sorely in need of more talent.

He was previously recognized by Baseball America and has been on their radar for some time. Earlier this year, he was ranked as their No. 41 overall college prospect.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter@PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author and founder/editor @AnsonWhaley.