FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Tyler Naquin (Texas A&M) hit two home runs and drove in five to lead the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team to a 7-5 win over New Bedford Wednesday night at Paul Walsh Field.
Naquin’s home runs were the first of the summer for the Collegiate National Team, which finished its tour of the New England Collegiate Baseball League Wednesday. Team USA is 5-1 as it heads to play in Gastonia, N.C., on Thursday.
Naquin, who led off the Team USA lineup as the team’s starting right fielder, tallied his first shot, a three-run home run, by lining a pitch over the right field fence off New Bedford starter Blaine O’Brian in the second inning. It drove in David Lyon (Kent State) and Michael Lorenzen (Cal State Fullerton) and gave Team USA a 3-0 lead.
New Bedford pulled to within one, 3-2, in the bottom half of the second, but Naquin drove in his fourth and fifth runs of the game in the fourth. He hit a towering two-run home run over the 370-foot sign in center field, bringing in Stephen Yarrow (San Francisco) and pushing Team USA to a 5-2 advantage.
Starter Brady Rodgers (Arizona State) was the recipient of Naquin’s big offensive support, earning the win to improve to 2-0 this summer. The right-hander gave up two two-run home runs – the second coming off the bat of New Bedford’s Mike DiBase in the sixth – before being replaced by Andrew Mitchell (Texas Christian) with one out in the sixth.
Rodgers tallied four strikeouts while allowing three hits.
O’Brian was saddled with the loss for New Bedford. The right-hander allowed three runs and four hits in three innings of work.
Yarrow had three hits – a run-scoring double in the seventh and a triple in the ninth.
Josh Elander (Texas Christian) and Chris Elder (Oral Roberts) also had two hits for Team USA, with the latter driving home a run with a single to center in the sixth.
Marcus Stroman (Duke) continued his mastery on the mound, striking out two after inheriting two runners – on the corners – with one out from Hoby Milner (Texas). The righty then worked a scoreless ninth for his second save of the summer.
Stroman finished the game with five strikeouts and has faced 13 batters this summer. Twelve of the 13 have struck out – only a hit batter in the ninth Wednesday broke his string of strikeouts.
Team USA heads to North Carolina for a game Thursday when the club visits Gastonia. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET at Sims Legion Park.
Make sure and visit usabaseball.com for a live stats link prior to the game and a full recap and box score after the contest’s conclusion. During the game, fans can get tweets by following twitter.com/usabaseballcnt.
USA Notes: Team USA had a few roster changes prior to the game … Michael Lorenzen (Cal State Fullerton) was named to the official roster (he had been an alternate) … Brian Ragira (Stanford) and Tom Windle (Minnesota) are no longer on the club … It was also announced that Mike Zunino (Florida) will not join the club … Team USA concluded its trip to New England on Wednesday … The club will play the 18U National Team in Durham, N.C., and Cary, N.C., Friday and Saturday, respectively … Each game will air on a one-day tape delay on the MLB Network … The games will air at 12 p.m. ET on both Saturday and Sunday … They’re also expected to air again throughout the summer.
