Baseball | 6/14/2017 5:21:00 PM

SAN FRANCISCO – Catcher Dominic Miroglio headlined a trio of San Francisco Dons selected on the third day of the 2017 MLB Draft on Wednesday. Miroglio, a redshirt junior from Oakland, Calif., was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 20th round with the 592nd pick of the draft.
 
Miroglio bounced back from missing the majority of the 2016 season to emerge as one of the top defensive catchers in the nation. An All-WCC honorable mention selection in 2017, Miroglio led the West Coast Conference with 25 runners caught stealing while throwing out 56 percent of base stealers. He committed just one error on the year en route to a .998 fielding percentage.
 
At the plate, Miroglio ranked among the top-10 in the WCC with nine home runs and 16 doubles on the year, while hitting .285. He led the team with 40 RBIs and 113 total bases.
 
This marks the third time Miroglio has seen his name on the draft boards, as he was a 16th round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016 and a 40th round selection of the Oakland A's out of high school.
 
The second Diamond Don to see his name called in the draft belonged to senior shortstop Nico Giarratano. The San Francisco native was tapped by the hometown team as the Giants made Giarratano their pick in the 24th round.
 
A four-year starter for the Dons, Giarratano ended his career as one of the top defensive players in West Coast Conference history, breaking the WCC record for career defensive assists (602). He boasted a .985 fielding percentage while committing just four errors in 259 chances this past season after being named the 2016 WCC Defensive Player of the Year.
 
His 169 assists this season were the fifth-most in program history and his 176 assists in 2016 were third. At the plate, Giarratano became the program leader in career at bats (887) and moved into the top-10 with 42 career doubles.
 
Redshirt senior Allen Smoot capped the day as the infielder from Moraga, Calif., was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 40th and final round of the draft.
 
The third baseman put together one of the best offensive seasons for the Dons in recent years by ranking second in the West Coast Conference with a .364 batting average and a .470 on base percentage, which ranked among the top-10 for a single season in program history. Smoot's 39 walks were the second-most in the WCC and tied for seventh in USF history.
 
Smoot, who led the team with 24 multi-hit games, hit two home runs on the year with 14 doubles and 39 RBIs, which ranked second on the team. Over his two years on the Hilltop after transferring from College of San Mateo, Smoot put together a .346 career average, which stands as seventh all-time at USF.  

"We are very proud of Nico and his opportunity to represent San Francisco for his career," said USF head coach and father, Nino Giarratano. "It has been such a special time to coach him and now follow him as a professional. The Giants are a dream come true!
"Dom will represent USF very well as a professional player, and we are very excited that Allen will be a Tampa Bay Ra. He has been a wonderful Don and we are proud of him. Good luck to the Smoots, and we are very excited for Dom and the Miroglio family."
 
This marks the 13th consecutive year the Dons have had a player drafted. The trio brings the tally of student-athletes drafted under head coach Nino Giarratano to 48. Learn more about USF's history in the MLB Draft.