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SALT LAKE CITY - Utah baseball player Trey Nielsen signed with the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, and will forgo his senior season at Utah. Nielsen was a 30th round draft pick to the Cardinals in last month's Major League Baseball Draft.
Nielsen hit .232 for the Utes this season with a team-high 13 doubles. He also led Utah with 24 RBI and tied for the team lead with three home runs. He had a .367 slugging percentage and was 6-of-8 in stolen bases. Nielsen had Utah's longest hitting streak of the season, a 14-game hitting streak. Drafted as a pitcher, he made just four appearances on the mound this year for the Utes due to injury, and had seven strikeouts over six innings.
For his career, Nielsen has hit .259 with 47 doubles, 14 home runs, 85 RBI and a .422 slugging percentage. He was a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2011, in addition to being named second-team all-conference at third base.
Nielsen is the fifth former Ute currently playing professional baseball, joining Stephen Fife (Los Angeles Dodgers), C.J. Cron (Arkansas Travelers), Parker Morin (Wilmington Blue Rocks) and Tyler Wagner (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers).
