FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Papillion, Neb. – George Springer (Connecticut) collected two hits and drove in three runs, while Brett Monneyham (Stanford) scattered three hits over five innings to pace Team USA to an 8-4 win over the Omaha Diamond Spirit of the MINK League Tuesday night at E.A. Fricke Field. With the win the Collegiate National Team (CNT) improves to 7-0 on the summer.
Springer, who played all three positions in the outfield Tuesday, singled in the fourth with the bases loaded pushing CNT’s lead to 5-0. After Brian Johnson (Florida) walked with the bases juiced, Springer sent a 1-2 offering back up the middle scoring Nolan Fontana (Florida) and Ryan Wright (Louisville) extending the lead to 5-0. Drew Maggi’s (Arizona State) pinch hit bunt single scored Johnson and Peter O’Brien reached on a fielding error by third baseman Dan Smolinski producing two more runs for an 8-1 lead.
The Diamond Spirit made things interesting in the eighth inning scoring three runs to cut the lead in half at 8-4. Brett Koehn doubled down the right field line to get things started and came home on Smolinski’s infield single. Michael Blatchford cleared the bases with two outs on a double to left center that pushed home JD Herman and Smolinski.
Mooneyham (1-0), who allowed a run on two hits in the first inning, struck out four with no walks and allowed just one more base hit over the next four frames. Kyle Winkler (Texas Christian) tossed the final four innings allowing three runs (all earned) on five this with five punch outs and a walk.
Omaha’s Matt Tew suffered the loss after working one inning in relief where he was touched for a pair of runs on one hit with three walks. Starter Steven Bougher kept Team USA off the board in his two innings of work, while Cory Buckley, Jake Johansen, Aaron Gilbreath and Greg Hellhake combined to keep the Collegiate National Team scoreless for the final 4 1/3 innings. Dylan Badura didn’t fair to well as he was roughed up for six runs (four earned) on four hits in two-thirds of an inning.
Blatchford put Omaha up 1-0 early in the first on a single to right field that scored Anthony Bazant from third. Bazant singled to start the game then took second on a wild pitch and third on a throwing error by O’Brien, who overthrew Mooneyham after Brandon Winkelmann struck out swinging.
Team USA took the lead in the third scoring a pair of runs for a 2-1 lead. Brad Miller (Clemson) knotted the game at one when he scored on a throwing error from the shortstop Brandon Bass. Springer pushed across the go-ahead run with a double down the left field line that scored Alex Dickerson (Indiana) from second.
USA will be back in action on Wednesday, July 21, when they play host to the Japanese Collegiate All-Stars inside historic Rosenblatt Stadium with a first pitch scheduled for 8 p.m. (EST).
Notes: Collegiate National Team alum Warren Morris will be an honorary captain for Team USA against Japan Wednesday … Morris, a two-time CNT member, hit a walk-off home run against Miami in the ninth inning to give Louisiana State a 9-8 win and the title in 1996 … He was voted Most Valuable Player of the U.S./Japan series while with Team USA in 1995, and in 1996, as a member of the U.S. Olympic Baseball Team, Morris helped lead his club to a bronze medal (the Collegiate National Team represented the United States in the baseball competition at the Atlanta Olympic Games) … Joining Team USA as an auxiliary coach on Wednesday is University of Oregon’s head coach George Horton … Horton, a two-time National Coach of the Year, led his alma mater Cal State Fullerton to the 2004 College World Series title … He is one of nine men to have appeared in Omaha as a player (1975) and a head coach … Horton’s teams at Cal State Fullerton have reached a No. 1 ranking in national polls in part(s) of the 1999, 2001 and 2003-06 seasons.
