FORT WORTH – Charleston Southern's Evan Truitt was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 12^th round with the 363^rd overall pick of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft.
 
Truitt becomes the 13^th MLB Draft selection from Charleston Southern in program history and the first since RJ Petit in 2021 who was taken in the 14^th round. He becomes the fastest CSU player taken off the board since 2010 when Tyler Thornburg was selected by the Brewers in the third round with the 96^th overall pick.
 
Following the announcement of his selection, Truitt shared "I am extremely excited for this opportunity! I know that without my time at Charleston Southern and learning how to pitch and more importantly grow as a person, this would not be possible! Thank you to all the coaches, teammates and people that played a part in this along the way!"
 
Since Truitt's arrival on campus in August of 2021, he has elevated himself into the upper echelon of pitchers in the Big South Conference. This past spring, during his third season with the Buccaneers, he was named First-Team All-Conference and a league-high four-time conference relief pitcher of the week. He finished the year with a career-low 3.80 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP as the go-to bullpen option for Charleston Southern this season. His ERA ranked 4^th within the conference and in the top 150 nationally. Additionally, he collected six saves on the season which ranks as the 7^th-most in a single season in program history.
 
"Evan has been a tremendous representative of his family and Charleston Southern University since he arrived on campus," said Head Coach Karl Kuhn. "It was a brilliant decision by former assistant coach, Anthony Izzio, and Head Coach Marc MacMillan to bring Evan to CSU. Evan's selflessness to accept any role on the pitching staff that the team needed combined with his willingness to be coached are the key reasons for his success. He is an unrelenting competitor, and these attributes will serve him very well in life. We are very proud of Evan and congratulate both him and his family on being selected by the Seattle Mariners."
 
Over his three seasons with the Buccaneers, he has thrown in 47 games, 187.0 innings and collected 171 strikeouts. He has picked up 13 career victories to go with six saves and boasts a career ERA of 4.24. He ranks in the school's career top 25 for wins, saves, innings pitched, strikeouts and ERA.
 
One of the top performances of the season came in the final regular season weekend played at Neilsen Field @ CSU Ballpark. He pitched in the Friday and Sunday contests against Radford and combined for 7.0 scoreless frames thrown with just four baserunners allowed and his performances help lead to the combined shutouts and secure the series victory and set CSU up to clinch their spot in the Big South Championships.
 
For the latest information on Charleston Southern baseball, check csusports.com as well as the program's social media outlets.