By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – Caleb Hobson, who just completed his junior campaign at the University of Tennessee at Martin, heard his name called in the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft when the Colorado Rockies selected the speedy centerfielder in the 13th round (382nd overall) this afternoon.
Hobson becomes the highest drafted player in Skyhawk baseball history, passing Taylor Cox (16th round in 2014). Overall, Hobson is the ninth UT Martin player to ever be picked in the MLB Draft (first since Cox nine years ago).
Hobson was the third Ohio Valley Conference player to be selected in the 2023 MLB Draft, only trailing Morehead State’s Jackson Feltner (eighth round, 235th overall) and SIUE’s Avery Owusu-Asiedu (ninth round, 283rd overall). The 6-0, 180-pound right-handed hitter made the most out of his debut season in a Skyhawk uniform after transferring from Northwest Mississippi Community College, ranking 10th in NCAA Division I baseball in stolen bases (36) and 11th in triples (6) on his way to All-OVC second team accolades for head coach Ryan Jenkins.
In addition to steals, Hobson also sported a league-best 1.000 fielding percentage in 187 chances. He also ranked in the top-10 in the OVC in triples (6, second), runs scored (55, fifth), walks (38, sixth) and hits (68, ninth). In league play, he led the OVC in triples (3) while ranking second in walks (22), second in stolen bases (13), fourth in hits (37), fourth in on-base percentage (.500), sixth in runs scored (29), ninth in batting average (.385) and ninth in RBI’s (26).
Hobson set the UT Martin single-season record for games played (56) and games started (56) while also shattering the school’s NCAA Division I mark for stolen bases and triples in 2023. His 38 walks the second-most for the program since the Skyhawks transitioned to Division I (since 1993) while his 55 runs scored rank third over that same stretch. Overall, he hit .318 with nine doubles, six home runs, a .500 slugging percentage and .429 on-base percentage.
A Pontotoc, Miss. native, Hobson paced the squad with 23 multi-hit games – including a school-record 6-for-6 effort at OVC rival Lindenwood on May 7. Those six hits – which only seven other NCAA Division I hitters accomplished last spring – occurred right in the middle of a blazing stretch where he reached base safely in 27 consecutive games from April 1 through May 18. Over his final 23 games of the season, he was responsible for a slash line of a .424 batting average, .500 on-base percentage and .687 slugging percentage in 114 plate appearances.
Hobson was an integral part of one of UT Martin’s most successful seasons at the NCAA Division I level in 2023. The Skyhawks won a school-record 14 OVC contests, leading to their highest finish (third) in the standings in program history. With Hobson serving as one of the main catalysts out of the leadoff spot in the lineup, UT Martin topped the OVC in batting average (.329, 20 points higher than second place), on-base percentage (.409), run scored (191) and hits (276) in league play. The Skyhawk offense ranked in the top-five in the school’s NCAA Division I Era in doubles (115, first), triples (15, first), runs scored (347, second), walks (224, second), stolen bases (72, second), home runs (57, third), total bases (857, third), times hit by pitch (58, third), RBI’s (313, fourth), slugging percentage (.455, fourth) and hits (541, fifth).
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information
