SECAUCUS, N.J. –
Seth Pinkerton of the University of Hartford baseball team was selected on the third day of the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft on Wednesday. A right-handed pitcher, he went to the Minnesota Twins in the 20th round.
"Seth has been one of our hardest workers and has been an unbelievable teammate throughout his three years at Hartford," Hartford head coach
Justin Blood said. "He developed from a raw talent into a complete pitcher who we feel could move through the minor leagues quickly. We wish Seth the very best if he chooses to sign and thank him for all he has done for Hartford baseball."
With Pinkerton (No. 604 overall), Hartford has now had 18 players drafted in program history, including eight during Blood's tenure, which began in 2011.
A native of Ogdensburg, N.Y., Pinkerton rewrote the record books during his time with the Hawks. He had a program-record 11 saves this past season, and with 15 on his career, he shattered the previous record of 12, set by Kurt Greshaw (1990-93) and Jeremy Charles (2013-15).
Working 35 innings over 25 appearances as a junior in 2018, Pinkerton posted the third-best ERA (2.06) in the America East among pitchers who tossed 35 or more innings. In addition, he held opposing batters to a .187 average and finished the year with 33 strikeouts.
During his career, Pinkerton struck out 69 batters in 84.0 innings (59 appearances), posting a 3.86 ERA.
Pinkerton and the Hawks are coming off a historic season in 2018, winning both the America East Regular-Season and Tournament Championships for the first time in program history. Earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Baseball Championship, Hartford fell to Stetson, the top-seed in the DeLand Regional, last Friday before dropping an 11-inning heartbreaker to second-seeded USF the following day.
DRAFT NOTES:
- Pinkerton is the seventh pitcher in Hartford program history to be selected in the MLB Draft, and the first since Brian Hunter and Sean Newcomb, who were drafted in 2014.
- The Hawks have also had three catchers, two shortstops, two first basemen, two outfielders, one second baseman and one third baseman get drafted.
- Pinkerton's selection makes a total of eight players to be drafted under Blood, joining James Alfonso (2014), Hunter (2014), Newcomb (2014), Trey Stover (2015), Ben Bengtson (2017), David MacKinnon (2017) and Erik Ostberg (2017).
