DURHAM, N.C. – A two-RBI single by Tate Matheny (Missouri State) broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fifth as the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team went on to defeat Chinese Taipei, 5-2, in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Including a seven-inning scoreless tie in the first game on Saturday, Team USA (9-1-2) concluded its five-game international friendly series against Chinese Taipei with a 3-0-2 record.
“I thought we pitched really well and played great defense all day,” Team USA manager Dave Van Horn (Arkansas) said. “We could not have asked more from our pitching with a shutout in the first game and no earned runs in the second game so just a tremendous day overall.
“We’ve had a little trouble swinging the bats the last few days, Chinese Taipei pitched really well, but I saw that start to come around tonight. Our offense kicked it into gear late and we swung the bats a lot better. We’re still learning about each other and learning how to run this lineup a little bit, but we are looking forward to playing a different team. Hopefully this will jump start us into the Japan series because we know they are going to be awfully good.”
In the all-time series history, dating back to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the U.S. now holds an 87-18-2 record over Chinese Taipei, including a 66-6-2 edge in games played in the United States. The red, white and blue also has a 19-3-2 record in games played in North Carolina.
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth of the nightcap, the U.S. used a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. Two batters later, Matheny laced a first-pitch fastball into left-center to bring in the eventual game-winning runs.
A sac fly by Dansby Swanson (Vanderbilt) added an insurance run in the sixth before Ryan Burr (Arizona State) closed out the game with a 1-2-3 top of the seventh to earn the save. Tyler Jay (Illinois) earned his first win of the summer after striking out three in 1.1 innings of relief. Thomas Eshelman (Cal State Fullerton) started the contest and logged three scoreless frames with four punchouts.
In the day’s opening contest both starting pitchers were terrific. U.S. starter Jake Lemoine (Houston) fired 5.2 scoreless innings, yielding just two hits and striking out five before handing the ball over to Justin Garza (Cal State Fulleron) who fanned three in the final 1.1 frames.
For Chinese Taipei, starter Jhih Long Yang allowed just four hits while striking out nine in six scoreless stanzas. Chia Hao Sung pitched the final inning for the visiting team.
Neither team put a runner in scoring position until the bottom of the fifth when Nick Banks (Texas A&M) laced a two-out double to right before being left stranded. Chinese Taipei would go on to load the bases in the top of the sixth but Garza shut them down, striking out the next batter to keep the game scoreless.
In the bottom of the sixth, Team USA would put runners on second and third but Chinese Taipei returned the favor from the previous frame and got an inning-ending strikeout of its own. Both teams then went quietly in the seventh and the game ended in a tie as the team’s had decided before the contest to
The Collegiate National Team will be back in action on Sunday when it opens a three-game set against Japan at 5 p.m. in Thomasville, N.C., at Finch Field. Vanderbilt right-hander Carson Fulmer is scheduled to get the start for Team USA.
