BATON ROUGE, La. – Former LSU baseball players Chris Chinea, Nick Goody and Ryan Verdugo received their college degrees Thursday after participating in the Academic Center for Student-Athletes Project Graduation program.

The mission of Project Graduation is to assist former LSU student-athletes with completing graduation requirements by providing counseling and information. The commitment to assist former student-athletes in obtaining a degree is always honored, no matter the length of time since they last attended LSU.

Chinea and Goody each earned LSU degrees in sport administration, and Verdugo received an interdisciplinary studies degree.

Chinea, a first baseman at LSU from 2013-15, was the 17th-round selection of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2015 MLB Draft, and he played six seasons in the minor leagues. He appeared in 139 career games at LSU (101 starts), batting .317 (120-for-379) with 26 doubles, 13 homers, 82 RBI and 56 runs.

Chinea, a Miami, Fla., native, earned third-team All-America and second-team All-SEC recognition in 2015, when he batted .344 (88-for-256) in 66 starts with 17 doubles, 11 homers, 58 RBI and 42 runs. He hit .372 (45-for-121) in SEC games with nine doubles, eight homers, 28 RBI and 21 runs, and he completed the season No. 4 in the SEC in hits (88), fifth in RBI (58), eighth in total bases (138), 10th in batting average (.344) and 10th in home runs (11).

Goody, a right-hander, pitched at LSU in 2012, and he was the sixth-round selection of the New York Yankees in 2012 MLB Draft. Goody made his MLB debut with the Yankees in 2015, and he also pitched for the Cleveland Guardians and Texas Rangers during a six-season Major League career.

Goody, a product of Orlando, Fla., made 35 relief appearances for LSU in 2012, recording a 1-2 mark and a 2.67 ERA in 33.2 innings with four walks, 45 strikeouts and 11 saves, and he finished the season No. 3 in the SEC in saves. He recorded a dominating effort to earn the save in the NCAA Regional final versus Oregon State, as he struck out the side in the bottom of the 10th by throwing just 14 pitches.

Verdugo, a left-hander, pitched at LSU in 2008, and he was selected in the ninth round of the 2008 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants. The Lake Stevens, Wash., native made an MLB appearance on the mound for the Kansas City Royals in 2012.

Verdugo, a 2008 ABCA All-South Region selection, led the SEC with 18 starts while posting a 9-4 record and a 4.12 ERA in 96.0 innings with 37 walks and 85 strikeouts. He earned an NCAA Baton Rouge Regional win over Southern Miss, and he registered a season-best 10 strikeouts in 6.0 innings in an SEC Tournament start versus South Carolina.