Baseball

Six Sun Belt Baseball Student-Athletes Selected on Day Two of MLB Draft

NEW YORK - Six Sun Belt Conference baseball student-athletes got the call they have been waiting for on day two of the 2019 MLB Draft. Five pitchers and one designated hitter were drafted on Tuesday.

Georgia State's Hunter Gaddis was the first off the board for the Sun Belt as the junior went in the fifth round, 160th overall, to the Cleveland Indians. Gaddis' pick makes him the highest draft pick in school history.

In Gaddis' three seasons at Georgia State, the right-hander compiled a 3.81 earned run average, the lowest mark in school history, while collecting 277 strikeouts (9.35 per nine innings) to rank second in Panther annals. He also stands 10th in the GSU record book with 14 career victories, fourth in innings pitched (266.2) and sixth in games started (40).

The Canton, Ga., native is a two-time All-Sun Belt Conference selection and a three-time Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week.

Next off the board was Georgia Southern's Seth Shuman. Shuman went in the sixth round, 194th overall to the Oakland Athletics. Shuman won 22 games in three years with the Eagles, posting a 3.95 career ERA. The right-hander fanned 258 career batters to rank 10th in school history. He finished his 2019 season with 114 Ks in 91.2 innings and was named First Team All-Sun Belt.

Shuman is the second consecutive Eagle to be drafted by the A's as the team selected former standout pitcher, Chase Cohen, in the ninth round of the 2018 MLB Draft.

In the eighth round, the New York Yankees selected South Alabama’s Zach Greene, 255th overall. Greene, a 2019 First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection, ranked second in the Sun Belt in saves (13) this season while finishing 2-0 with a 1.45 ERA in 27 relief appearances. He struck out 70 batters against eight walks in 49.2 innings pitched.

Greene became the program's single-season save leader with his 13th save of the season in a May 12 win at Appalachian State, passing Kyle Bartsch (2013) and Mike Nakamura (1995) on the school's list. He finished his career with 18 saves, which ranks tied for second on the program's all-time list with Blaine Dollar (1971-74).

Greene's selection by the Yankees marks the seventh consecutive year that a Jaguar pitcher has been drafted, dating back to the 2013 MLB Draft with Bartsch and right-hander Dylan Stamey.

Texas State's Hunter McMahon and Louisiana's Todd Lott were both selected in the draft's ninth round. McMahon went with the 273rd overall pick to the Washington Nationals while Lott was chosen two picks later by the St. Louis Cardinals.

McMahon is the earliest Bobcat selected in the MLB Draft since 2016 when Lucas Humpal was the 271st selection. He posted a 5-5 record with one save and a 4.72 ERA this season. The right-hander struck out 71 in 87.2 innings spanning 17 games, including 14 starts. McMahon's selection marks the 17th-straight year a Bobcat has been taken in the MLB draft.

Lott had a career year at the plate as a junior, ranking second on the team with a .332 average (67-for-202) and driving in a team-best 48 runs. In league games, the junior ranked fifth amongst Sun Belt competitors in hits (45), third in RBI (36), and tied for third with his home run total (7), while leading the Ragin' Cajuns in all three categories.

In three seasons at Louisiana, the Jacksonville, Fla., native was a .296 (117-for-395) hitter, producing 73 RBI, 31 extra-base hits and a .446 slugging percentage. In that time, he made 127 appearances for Louisiana, 102 of which were starts.

With Lott's selection, Louisiana has now had at least one player picked in the MLB Draft in every year during the Tony Robichaux era. In all, 67 players have been drafted under the Ragin' Cajuns head coach.

The final selection of the day was Coastal Carolina's Anthony Veneziano who was drafted in the 10th round (289th overall) by the Kansas City Royals. Veneziano was 5-3 with a 4.73 ERA on the mound for the Chants in 2019, starting 14 games and appearing in 21 contests. He struck out 85 batters in 78.0 innings and held the opponents to a .259 batting average on the season.

For his career at Coastal, Veneziano is 14-6 overall with a 5.09 ERA over 49 appearances, including 35 starts. He has totaled 187 strikeouts compared to just 89 walks over 176.2 innings of work and has held opponents to a .258 batting average overall. He becomes the 31st Chant to be selected in the first 10 rounds of the MLB Draft in the program's history.

The 2019 MLB Draft continues on Wednesday with rounds 11-40. Coverage starts on MLB.com at 11 a.m. CT.