MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama baseball catcher Jared Barnes, right-handed pitcher Randy Bell and signee JoJo Booker were each selected on day two of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft Tuesday.
Barnes, a 2017 first-team all-Sun Belt Conference selection, was taken in the eighth round (239th overall) by the Miami Marlins. He led the Sun Belt Conference in slugging percentage (.768) and on-base percentage (.504) during league games, tied for the league lead in home runs (10), ranked second in total bases (73) and third in batting average (.368) and RBI (32).
He was named the National Hitter of the Week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on May 16, after earning National Player-of-the-Week honors from Collegiate Baseball and SBC Player of the Week on May 15.