Marty Gordon
Auburn High School pitcher Joshua Givens has announced plans to attend Limestone University.
This past spring, he had seven wins on the mound in 48.2 innings pitched with 98 strikeouts and set a school record with a 0.30 earned run average. Givens was named first team pitcher for the Mt. Empire District and Region 1C, along with second team in Class 1. In addition, he was named all-state pitcher for the first team in Prep Baseball Report’s DC/Virginia region and was named a 2024 Cy Young high school award winner.
“I chose Limestone because of the coaches,” Givens said. “Coach Padgett (Assistant Recruiting Coach) recruited me with urgency and made me feel like I was a big value add for their program. When I went on my visit to Limestone University, I met Coach Harker (Head Coach) and Coach Corn (Assistant Pitching Coach) and they made a big effort to show me how much they wanted me on their team.”
Limestone University, formerly Limestone College, is a private Christian university in Gaffney, South Carolina, with an enrollment of 1,551 undergraduate students.
Limestone plays sports in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC). The baseball team finished 23-26 this past spring with a South Atlantic Conference record of 14-16. Brett Harker is the fourth head coach in the program’s history.
A fifth-round pick of the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft, Harker spent four years as the head coach of the NCAA Division I Furman University before the program was cut following the 2020 season. During the 2021 campaign, he volunteered as the pitching coach at his alma mater, Hillcrest High School.
“They shared the way they would train me as a pitcher and what tools we would have to work on my development. Coach Harker is an awesome coach, who has an impressive resume and is willing to put in the work with his athletes. The plan and vision that they shared made me fired up to be a Limestone Saint and I can’t wait to get to work,” he said.
Givens also plays varsity golf team and finished 22nd at last year’s 1A VHSL State Golf Tournament and throws the shot put on the Track & Field team, finishing sixth at last year’s indoor state meet and eighth at the outdoor meet.
Givens help lead Auburn to a state championship this past year and hopes to do that again this spring.
At Limestone, Givens hopes to make an immediate impact at on the mound, throwing strikes and winning games with my new team.
“I want to be drafted to the MLB out of college. My ultimate goal is to continue to pitch and play baseball for as long as God continues to bless me with this gift,” he said.
Givens plans to major in Finance and Accounting for my undergrad degree.