Southern Miss’ Taylor Braley decides to sign with Marlins

Taylor Braley has decided to bring his Southern Miss baseball career to a close.

Braley announced on Instagram Wednesday that he has decided to forego his senior season at USM and sign with the Miami Marlins.

The Marlins drafted Braley as a pitcher in the sixth round of last week's MLB Draft, the highest selection of a Golden Eagle since Biloxi's B.A. Vollmuth was made a third round selection by the Oakland A's in 2011. Braley was the 179^th overall selection, which had a slot value of $253,800.

Braley became one of college baseball's top two-way players as a junior. He hit .313 with 17 homers and 61 RBIs as a third baseman/DH.

As a pitcher, Braley was 7-2 with a 3.40 ERA in 14 appearances, including 13 starts.

USM appears to have a quality replacement for Braley at third base in Mississippi State transfer Luke Reynolds, who hit .304 as a sophomore at MSU in 2015.

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Southern Miss’ Taylor Braley decides to sign with Marlins."