University of South Carolina redshirt sophomore pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski was selected in competitive balance round A by the Pittsburgh Pirates on the first day of the 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Mlodzinski was the 31st overall pick in the draft and the highest Gamecock picked in the draft since Clarke Schmidt went No. 16 to the New York Yankees in 2017.

A Hilton Head Island native, Mlodzinski was 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 25.1 innings pitched in the covid-19-shortened 2020 season.

He combined on a shutout in the 10-0 opening day win over Holy Cross on Feb. 14, going 7 innings in the victory.

He struck out 6 in 7 innings against Northwestern on Feb. 21 and earned the win in 5 1/3 innings pitched with 5 strikeouts against Cornell on March 6.

Injury cut his sophomore season short, when he made 3 starts, striking out 11 in 10 2/3 innings pitched.

He made 19 appearances in his freshman season of 2018, earning the win in the Greenville Regional championship game against UNC-Wilmington.

It was 4 days later when redshirt senior righthanded pitcher Graham Lawson signed a free-agent deal with the Chicago Cubs Sunday afternoon.

The Woodruff native inked a deal with the Cubs on the first day undrafted college and high school players can sign deals with major league clubs.

Lawson made 6 appearances for the Gamecocks in 2020, striking out 8 in 6 innings of work with a 1.50 ERA.

He struck out the side in the opening day win over Holy Cross on Feb. 14 and had a pair of punchouts in 1 2/3 innings in a win over Presbyterian on Feb. 19.

Lawson missed 2019 with injury and was 1-1 with 3 saves in 22 appearances for South Carolina in 2018, helping the Gamecocks to a Super Regional berth.

Also signing a free-agent deal was junior righthander T.J. Shook. The Dutch Fork graduate signed a freeagent deal with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Shook made six appearances for the Gamecocks, striking out 16 batters in 8 2/3 innings pitched to go along with a 2.08 ERA and a pair of saves. Shook held opponents to a .107 batting average and struck out 5 in 2 innings of work to earn a save versus North Florida on Feb. 25. He had 3 strikeouts in a win over Clemson on Feb. 29 and picked up a save in a win over Furman (March 3). In his South Carolina career, Shook was 6-1 with a 3.04 ERA and three saves with 92 strikeouts in 74 innings pitched.