July 6, 2004

ARLINGTON, Texas - Nearly one month after being selected by the Houston Astros with their first pick in the Major League Baseball Draft, former Texas-Arlington standout Hunter Pence agreed to terms with the ballclub on Saturday for a reported $575,000. Pence will report to Troy, New York to play for the Tri-City Valley Cats of the Short Season Class-ANew York-Penn League.

Pence (Arlington, Texas) closed out his two-year UTA career as the Southland Conference Player and Hitter of the Year. Despite missing 13 games with an injury, Pence still hit .395 with eight doubles, five triples, eight home runs and 35 RBIs. He also collected 75 hits and scored 47 runs, while leading the team in slugging percentagage (.616), on-base percentage (.441) and stolen bases (10-for-10).

Pence had 24 multi-hit games in his 44 starts on the season and put together a two-home run, four RBI performance in a victory over TCU. In an offensive explosion against Oklahoma, Pence went 4-for-6 with four RBI singles and followed that up with a four hit performance against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. In his final home game as a Maverick, Pence hit the first inside-the-park home run at Clay Gould Ballpark in a victory over Texas-San Antonio.

The Astros made Pence the highest draft pick ever out of UTA and made him the first outfielder selected with their top pick since selecting Michael Rosamond in 1999.