Jacksonville State's Austin Lucas recently signed with the Houston Astros and he becomes the fifth Gamecock to enter the professional baseball off the 2010 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship squad.

Lucas, a native of Alabaster, made 14 appearances and posted a perfect 6-0 record and a 5.31 earned run average. He held the opponents to just a .256 batting average, which ranked third in the OVC, while ranking seventh with six wins.

The right-hander tossed a season-high 7 2/3 innings in the opening game of the OVC Tournament to earn the win over Eastern Illinois, holding the Panthers to just five runs.

He finished his two-year career with a 13-3 record (.812), with was the eighth-best winning percentage by a pitcher in Jacksonville State history.

Lucas joins fellow Gamecock teammate Daniel Adamson with the Astros, and has been assigned to the Rookie Gulf Coast League in Florida. JSU also had Todd Cunningham, Alex Jones and Andrew Edge sign to continue their professional baseball careers off this year's team.