Report: Two freshmen, including former top prospect, leaving South Carolina baseball

A year after spurning the MLB draft to attend South Carolina, freshman outfielder Kyle Jacobsen's time with the Gamecocks is over.

Jacobsen and fellow freshman Elijah Bowers will transfer from USC, John Whittle of The Big Spur reported Friday. Neither has said where they will go.

Jacobsen entered the 2018 season as the jewel of coach Mark Kingston's first recruiting class in Columbia — the Acworth, Georgia, native was ranked as Carolina's top signee and was considered a top-150 prospect in the MLB draft, but he turned down the opportunity to play pro ball to join the Gamecocks.

In his freshman campaign, however, he rarely saw the field, making 27 appearances and seven starts, hitting .158 in 38 at-bats.

Bowers, a catcher out of Charlotte, North Carolina, never made an appearance this season as senior Hunter Taylor and junior Chris Cullen took turns behind the plate. The Gamecocks' incoming recruiting class also includes an MLB draftee in Wes Clarke and a junior college commit in Luke Berryhill.

This story was originally published June 15, 2018 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Report: Two freshmen, including former top prospect, leaving South Carolina baseball."