PEMBROKE – Darren Bowen joined an elite list of current and former UNC Pembroke baseball players on Tuesday afternoon when the St. Pauls native was selected in the 13th round (396th pick) of the 2022 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft by the Seattle Mariners.
 
Bowen becomes the 15th player in program history to be drafted by an MLB organization, joining such names as Mike Carruthers (selected in both the 1966 and 1968 drafts) and Torrey Pettitford who was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1994 edition. Bowen is the fourth MLB draftee to have played collegiate ball under head coach Paul O'Neil.
 
UNCP has now had players selected in consecutive drafts for the first time since the 1968 and 1969 seasons. The San Diego Padres picked up River Ryan in the 11^th round of last year's event. Ryan is currently with the Ranco Cucamonga Quakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system. Bowen is the eighth UNCP product to be picked among the draft's first 13 rounds.
 
A key right-hander for the Braves over the last three seasons, Bowen held opponents to a paltry .240 batting average in 21 appearances in the spring, and finished among NCAA Division II's top saves leaders despite moving into the starting rotation for the last month of the season. The Robeson County product also struck out 84 batters in 54-2/3 innings pitched, including a career-best 13 strikeouts in the series opener at Mount Olive.
 

UNC PEMBROKE MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL DRAFT SELECTIONS
Year	Player	MLB Team	Round	Pick #
2022	Darren Bowen	Seattle Mariners	13	396
2021	River Ryan	San Diego Padres	11	340
2014	Jordan Edgerton	Atlanta Braves	9	283
2008	Jason Morales	Kansas City Royals	24	715
1994	Torrey Pettitford	Philadelphia Phillies	13	366
1991	Jeff Locklear	San Francisco Giants	54	1,373
1989	Stephen Matchett	Detroit Tigers	35	915
1974	Ron Norman	Texas Rangers	5	98
1970	Ronnie Collins	New York Mets	4	96
1969	Melvin Williams	Washington Senators	7	145
1969	Greg Allen	New York Mets	33	758
1968	Mike Carruthers	Cleveland Indians	15	330
1966	Richard Thompson	Los Angeles Dodgers	3	59
1966	William Davis	Cleveland Indians	5	92
1966	Mike Carruthers	Cleveland Indians	25	492