COLUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina baseball team had four current student-athletes and one member of the recruiting class picked on the second day of the 2023 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Monday afternoon (July 10).
Jack Mahoney was selected in the third round by the Colorado Rockies while Will Sanders was a fourth-round selection by the Chicago Cubs. Noah Hall went in the seventh round to the New York Mets and Braylen Wimmer joined Mahoney to Colorado after being picked in the eighth round.
Mahoney, a junior righthanded pitcher, made 17 starts for the Gamecocks in 2023, going 7-4 with a 4.16 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 84.1 innings pitched. He had four wins and a 4.04 ERA in 10 SEC contests. The Arlington Hts., Ill., native was named to the D1Baseball.com’s SEC Extra’s All-SEC second team. He struck out nine in six innings pitched in a win over Tennessee on May 20 and had six punchouts in seven innings of work at Arkansas (May 13). He has 10 career wins at Carolina and 123 career strikeouts in 117.2 innings of work.
Sanders, a junior righthanded pitcher, made 14 appearances and 11 starts for the Gamecocks this season, garnering four wins and a save with 77 strikeouts in 62.2 innings pitched. He had a season-high 10 strikeouts in six innings in a win over Florida (April 20) and had six strikeouts in three innings of relief to earn a save in a win over Campbell (June 4). In his three-year Carolina career, Sanders had 17 wins and 222 strikeouts in 205.1 innings pitched. He was a Freshman All-American by a pair of organizations and a SEC All-Freshman team member in 2021.
Hall, a senior righthanded pitcher, started seven games for the Gamecocks in 2023, going 5-1 with a 3.29 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 41 innings pitched. He struck out a career high 12 batters in a 1-0 win over Penn (Feb. 25) and had 10 punchouts in a win over Missouri (March 25). Hall missed the last 10 weeks of the year due to injury but in his two-year Carolina career, was named an SEC Pitcher of the Week four times and had eight wins and 111 strikeouts in 117.2 innings of work.
Wimmer, a senior infielder, hit .304 with 64 runs scored, 11 doubles, 14 home runs, 43 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 2023. He was named to the All-NCAA Columbia Regional team after going 4-for-5 with three runs scored, a double and a home run in a win over Campbell (June 4). He had 18 multi-hit games and 11 multi-RBI performance as a senior, playing shortstop in 46 games for the Garnet and Black. In his four-year career at Carolina, Wimmer had 39 doubles, two triples, 32 home runs, 113 RBI and 34 stolen bases.
Wimmer and Hall both were picked in the 2022 MLB Draft and both moved up in this year’s edition. Wimmer was an 18th-round selection last year while Hall was picked in the 20th round in 2022.
Gamecock signee George Wolkow was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the seventh round of the draft.
The third and final day of the 2023 MLB First-Year Player Draft is Tuesday, July 11 with rounds 11-20 starting at 2 p.m. EDT.