Mankato, Minn. --- Former Minnesota State righthanded pitcher Dalton Roach has signed a free agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Eau Claire, Wis., native has been assigned to Johnson City (Tenn.), the Cardinals rookie ball affiliate in the Appalachian League.

Roach, who played for the Mavericks from 2015-18, has played the last two summers with River City of the Frontier League, an independent professional league. This year with River City (O'Fallon, Mo.), Roach was 4-0 through five starts with a 1.13 earned run average, registering 37 strikeouts and only six walks in 32 total innings of work.

Roach, who was selected in the 21st round by Houston in the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft (he did not sign with the Astros), finished his senior season at Minnesota State in 2018 with an 8-2 record and a 3.30 earned run average and 86 strike outs in 71 innings pitched. He was named All-NSIC First Team and D2CCA All-Central Region Second Team. Roach finished his career at Minnesota State as its all-time leader in wins with 30 and strikeouts with 371. His career record was 30-7 and his career ERA was 2.49.

As a junior, Roach earned ABCA/Rawlings All-American First Team and D2CCA All-American First Team honors. He also received the 2017 Tomko Award which is presented to the best pitcher in NCAA Division II, as he finished his junior season with a 10-1 record and a 1.56 ERA, to go along with 128 strikeouts.