Cary, N.C. — USA Baseball kicked off its Collegiate National Team (CNT) trials Tuesday afternoon at the National Training Center (NTC), which will run through July 11. Peter O’Brien (Bethune-Cookman) paced the Red squad to a 4-1 victory over the Blue.
O’Brien, who caught for both teams on the day, was 1-for-3 at the dish connecting on a home run off Noe Ramirez (Cal State Fullerton) in the top of the first inning.
Jackie Bradley, Jr. (South Carolina) knotted the game at one in the bottom half of the frame scoring on a passed ball after collecting the first of his two base knocks on a shot to left field.
The Red squad took the lead for good in the second inning, 2-1, on a sac fly to right field off the bat of Ryan Wright (Louisville) that pushed across Nolan Fontana (Florida).
Steve Rodriguez (UCLA) scored the final two runs for the Red touching home in the third on George Springer’s (Connecticut) double to left before crossing the plate in the fifth when Nick Martini (Kansas State) grounded into a double play.
Matt Barnes (Connecticut) recorded the win after fanning eight batters over three innings. Starter Tyler Anderson (Oregon) went two innings giving up a run on three hits with three punch outs. Erik Sommerville (Francis Marion), a senior non-roster invitee, tossed three innings of one-hit ball with a pair of strikeouts.
Noe Ramirez (0-1) suffered the loss allowing three runs on three hits three innings of work with four strikeouts. Kyle Winkler (Texas Christian) toed the rubber for two frames surrendering one run two hits with four strikeouts, while Evan Brock (UC Irvine) and Scott McGough (Oregon) worked the final three innings for the Blue team.
Martini and Bradley, Jr. each led their respective teams with two hits on the day.
The two teams will resume CNT Trials games Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the NTC in Cary, N.C. Check in at USABaseball.com for further Collegiate National Team updates.
