Baseball

Wichita State’s Bohm and USF’s McClanahan selected in First Round of MLB Draft


PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Wichita State All-America third baseman Alec Bohm and USF southpaw Shane McClanahan were each selected in the First Round of the Major League Baseball Draft Monday. Bohm was the third overall pick in the draft and selected by the Philadelphia Phillies, while McClanahan was the 31st overall pick and selected by the Tampa Bay Rays. Bohm, who led The American in runs scored (57) and home runs (16), becomes the highest player drafted in conference history.
 
Furthermore, the two first-round picks are the most in American Athletic Conference history, as the league has seen at least one of its players get selected in the MLB first round in each of the past four seasons. The American’s two first-round selections are the fourth-most among the 31 NCAA Division I conferences.

Bohm and McClanahan highlighted the group of 38 student-athletes drafted by the MLB in 2018. The 38 selections set a conference record, bettering last year's total of 26. All nine conference teams were represented in the draft, as Wichita State led the way with 10 picks, good for tying the third-most selections (with North Carolina and South Carolina) among all college programs this year. The Shockers' 10 MLB picks are also the most selected from an American Athletic Conference team in a single year. This year's conference picks consisted of 22 pitchers and 16 position players. The American has seen 130 of its players get drafted by an MLB team in its five-year span.  Bohm, a junior third baseman from Omaha, Neb., was named second team All-Conference and was a second team All-America choice by Baseball America this season. He hit .339 with 76 hits, 14 doubles, 55 RBIs and nine stolen bases in 2018. His 24 multiple-hit games and 10 go-ahead RBIs led the Shockers. He also set a school record with three grand slams in a season.
  McClanahan, a redshirt sophomore from Cape Coral, Fla., becomes the fourth first-round selection in program history and the second in as many seasons. McClanahan finished second nationally in 2018 with 14.15 strikeouts per nine innings and ended the year with 120 strikeouts—both figures that led The American. McClanahan allowed just 6.01 hits per nine innings this season, ranking 18th in the country. Named to multiple preseason All-America lists, McClanahan began the season with a streak of 31.2 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.

American Athletic Conference Players in the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft 
 
 
Round Overall Player   Pos. School     MLB Team
1 3 Alec Bohm     3B Wichita State Philadelphia
1 31 Shane McClanahan LHP USF Tampa Bay
2 49 Greyson Jenista 1B Wichita State Atlanta
2 58 Jonathan Bowlan RHP Memphis Kansas City
2 65 Tim Cate LHP UConn Washington
4 120 Grant Witherspoon OF Tulane Tampa Bay
5 141 Dwanya Williams-Sutton OF ECU San Diego 
5 160 Thad Ward RHP UCF Boston 
6 168 Codi Heuer RHP Wichita State Chicago (AL)
7 205 J.J. Montgomery RHP UCF Baltimore
8 228 Andrew Perez LHP USF Chicago (AL)
9 258 Gunnar Troutwine C Wichita State Chicago (AL)
9 269 Chandler Sanburn RHP Wichita State Texas
10 290 Manny Rodriguez SS Cincinnati  New York (NL)
11 316 David Villar 3B USF San Francisco
11 333 Chris Holba RHP ECU St. Louis
11 336 P.J. Poulin LHP UConn Colorado
12 354 Zac Susi C UConn Pittsburgh
13 390 Trey Cumbie LHP Houston Tampa Bay
14 406 Bryce Tucker LHP UCF San Francisco
14 431 Aaron Fletcher LHP Houston Washington 
15 456 Coco Montes SS USF Colorado
16 465 Dayton Dugas OF Wichita State Detroit
17 497 Keylan Killgore LHP Wichita State Philadelphia
20 587 Connor Litton 3B ECU Philadelphia
24 714 Cam Alldred LHP Cincinnati Pittsburgh
25 746 Will McAffer RHP Tulane Toronto
26 769 Rylan Thomas 1B UCF Cincinnati
26 777 Tyler Jones RHP Wichita State Miami
27 816 Eric Hepple RHP UCF Colorado
29 866 Cre Finfrock RHP UCF Toronto
29 874 J.T. Perez LHP Cincinnati Minnesota
30 911 Trey Vickers SS Wichita State Washington
31 942 Riley Cabral  RHP Memphis Houston
32 956 Joey Pulido RHP Houston Toronto
35 1,052 Kody Hoese 3B Tulane Kansas City
37 1,114 Luke Ritter OF Wichita State Minnesota
40 1,204 Tyler Webb SS Memphis Minnesota