June 5, 2002

Columbia, SC – Both captains of the 2002 South Carolina Baseball team were drafted on Wednesday afternoon in the second day of the Major League Baseball Draft. Senior OF Garris Gonce was drafted in the 31st round by the St. Louis Cardinals, and senior RHP Blake Taylor was selected in the 39th round by the Cleveland Indians.

Gonce has played in 64 of 66 games for USC this season and is batting .303 with 16 home runs and 51 RBI. Gonce earned All-SEC honors as a junior at South Carolina and is among the leaders in the SEC this season in assists by an outfielder, with eight.

A senior from Columbus, Ga., senior RHP Blake Taylor leads the nation in saves with 20, a single-season record at South Carolina. Taylor owns a 6-1 record with a 1.97 ERA and is just three saves shy of the Division I record for saves in a season, 23, set by Jack Krawczyk of Southern California in 1998. Taylor also started his first game of the season and earned a win in Sunday’s 3-1 victory vs. North Carolina in the NCAA Regionals. Taylor threw a complete game while striking out a career-high 11 batters, earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team.