SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After wrapping his Spartan career as one of the best hitters in program history, USC Upstate baseball's Devin Buckner has signed a professional contract with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League.
 
During his three-year career, the Lexington, Ky. native fashioned a career .335 batting average after hitting .332 or better in each of his seasons in a Spartan uniform, collecting 159 hits over the last three years. As a fifth-year senior in 2022, Buckner led the Spartans in all three slash-line categories, posting a line of .332/.472/.523 while collecting a team-high 73 hits, a Division I era record 63 runs, and 51 RBI.
 
A two-time Second Team All-Big South selection, Buckner etched his name all over the program's record book, holding the program's Division I era (2007-pres.) record for runs batted in (116) and the D1 era single-season records for on-base percentage (.482; 2021), runs scored (63; 2022), walks (41; 2021), and hit-by-pitch (22; 2022).
 
He becomes the seventh Spartan active in professional baseball after signing with the Otters on July 5, joining Alex Garbrick (Clearwater Threshers; Philadelphia Phillies), Sean Hupp (Great Falls Voyagers; Pioneer Baseball League), Jordan Marks (Lakeland Flying Tigers; Detroit Tigers), Jason Matthews (Winston-Salem Dash; Chicago White Sox), Chad Sobotka (Gastonia Honey Hunters; Atlantic League), and Blake Whitney (Iowa Cubs; Chicago Cubs).
 
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