UC Santa Barbara’s Jared Sundstrom was selected No. 307 overall by the Seattle Mariners in the 10th round of the 2023 MLB Draft on Monday.
The outfielder, who entered the transfer portal in June, will now have the option to either sign with the Mariners and join the minor-league ranks of the organization or continue his collegiate career elsewhere.
Sundstrom transferred to UCSB after playing two seasons at Santa Rosa Junior College. At Santa Rosa, he hit .400 with six homers, 26 RBIs and 16 stolen bases during the 2022 season.
In his first year at the Division-I level in 2023, Sundstrom proved to be one of the best Gaucho bats, making the All-Big West First Team while leading the conference in home runs (15) and slugging percentage (.672).
In 50 games played, Sundstrom slashed .322/.399/.672 with his 15 homers, 43 RBIs, 39 runs scored and 11 stolen bases while ending the year with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage on 79 chances.
Sundstrom is the first Gaucho off the board in this year’s draft.
The Gauchos have now had at least one player taken in the first 10 rounds in three consecutive drafts and four of the last five.
The final rounds of the draft are on Tuesday.