Two of South Carolina baseball's top relievers last season not signing with MLB team

South Carolina baseball will get not one, but two of its top relievers from the 2018 campaign back for another year, as junior pitchers Graham Lawson and Ridge Chapman announced in quick succession Thursday that they will not sign with the MLB team who drafted them, the Washington Nationals.

In separate statements released on Twitter, both players referenced "circumstances" as the reason they did not sign the pro contract. According to John Whittle of The Big Spur, both failed their physicals with the team.

Lawson made 22 appearances for the Gamecocks this past season, third most of any pitcher on the team, and threw 27 1/3 innings, recording a 1-1 record, three saves, 5.60 ERA and a .248 batting average against. Chapman threw 38 1/3 innings in 16 appearances, with a 1-4 record, 4.93 ERA and .194 batting average against.

Lawson was picked in the 13th round of the draft, while Chapman went in the 17th round. Both were widely expected to sign before the physicals.

USC is less than two weeks into its offseason but has already had plenty of movement across its roster in that time — four players have reportedly decided to transfer, two other undergraduate pitchers have signed professional contracts and coach Mark Kingston has added a late junior college transfer.

With Chapman and Lawson's decision, there are now three remaining undergraduate Gamecocks who were drafted but have yet to sign a professional contract — pitchers Adam Hill, infielder LT Tolbert and outfielder Carlos Cortes. The deadline to do so is July 6.

This story was originally published June 21, 2018 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Two of South Carolina baseball's top relievers last season not signing with MLB team."