COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball saw four more players selected on the final day of the 2018 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft Wednesday. Senior RHP Andy Toelken (Green Cove Springs, Fla.) was the 19th round selection of the Arizona Diamondbacks (No. 579 overall). Junior RHP Giovanni Lopez (Goodyear, Ariz.) was selected in the 23rd round (No. 687 overall) by the Miami Marlins. Junior INF/RHP Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo.) was chosen in the 26th round (No. 770 overall) by the New York Mets. Senior OF Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) was the 32nd round selection of his hometown Atlanta Braves.
In all, Mizzou had six players drafted in 2018 after Michael Plassmeyer (St. Louis, Mo.) and Bryce Montes De Oca (Lawrence, Kan.) were selected in the fourth and ninth rounds Tuesday. Mizzou has now had 11 players drafted under second-year head coach Steve Bieser.
Toelken developed into one of the SEC's top relievers during his senior season, going 6-3 on the year with three saves in 57.1 innings. After starting in his first five appearances, he made his next 16 appearances out of the bullpen and went 4-1 with three saves and a 3.21 ERA in that span. He only factored into one losing decision in that span, coming in the SEC Tournament vs. South Carolina. Of his 16 relief appearances, 10 were shutout appearances and 10 were more than 1.0 inning long. Mizzou won 13 of the 21 games that he appeared in and 11 of his 16 relief appearances.
Lopez made 14 appearances during his first year with the program and posted a 3.86 ERA over 14.0 innings of work, striking out 17. He allowed just six earned runs in 14.0 innings of work and did not allow a run in nine of his 14 appearances.
Sharp was one of the SEC's top two-way players during his junior season, developing into one of the most consistent pitchers and dominant hitters on Mizzou's roster. He hit a career-best .321 with eight homers, nine doubles, 39 RBI and 42 runs. His 39 RBI and 42 runs were both the second-best marks on the team. He also led the team with a career-best 33 walks.
On the mound, he posted a 3.38 ERA in 10 appearances, including four starts, while striking out 29 in 32.0 innings. He went 4-0 on the mound and gave Mizzou incredible midweek pitching depth. Sharp earned SEC Co-Player of the Week honors (2/26) following an incredible week two of the 2018 season. He began that week by pitching 5.0 shutout innings in a 9-0 road win at No. 24 Miami Wednesday. In his first career start in 29 appearances, he reset career-highs for innings pitched and strikeouts (eight) and allowed just four hits against the nationally-ranked Hurricanes and did not walk a batter. He then entered the game as the DH following his time on the mound and tallied a hit and a run in the win, a prelude to a huge weekend with the bat. In Mizzou's weekend series vs. Northeastern, Sharp exploded for one of the most impressive single-game performances in school history in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader. In Mizzou's 20-1 win, Sharp went 5-for-5 with a pair of homers, a triple, a walk and a school-record nine RBI, tying the mark set by Jacob Priday on April 11, 2008, vs. Texas. His 13 total bases were the most since Priday had 15 in that same game vs. Texas. A double shy of the cycle, Sharp came to bat in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and instead of hitting the double he needed for the cycle, he launched a grand slam to right field to complete the historic performance. He also had a three-run, go-ahead homer in the second inning of that game
Sharp finished second on the team with 17 multi-hit games and third with eight multi-RBI games and he reached base in the final 17 games of the 2018 season and also reached base in 18 straight games earlier in the year. Over his final 17 games, he hit 27-for-66 (.409) with 18 runs, 15 RBI and five of his eight homers and had seven straight games with multiple hits from April 24 through May 4.
Harris wrapped up a tremendous career with his best season as a Tiger, resetting career-highs in batting (.316), at-bats (215), runs (54), hits (68), extra-base hits (20), RBI (50), slugging (.516), on-base percentage (.413) and stolen bases (12). He became just the second Tiger batter since 2011 to post 50 RBI in a single season, joining Zach Lavy who drove in 54 as a senior in 2016.
Harris finishes his Mizzou career ranked ninth all-time in career at-bats (767), 11th in career homers (28), 10th in career RBI (156) and seventh in stolen bases (37). He also became the first Mizzou player to post back-to-back seasons with 10+ homers since Jacob Priday in 2007-2008. Harris led Mizzou with 19 multiple hits games and 12 multiple RBI games while playing in 56 games, including 55 starts.
He is headed to his hometown Atlanta Braves and he hit the first home run ever in SunTrust Park, the brand new $622 million ballpark of the Braves, last year against Georgia.
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