CARY, N.C. — Corey Ray (Louisville) went 4-for-4 with a double, triple and three runs, leading the USA Collegiate National Team to a 10-2 win over Chinese Taipei, on a perfect Sunday evening at USA Baseball’s National Training Complex.
Team USA (6-3) extended its winning streak to five games and improved to 4-2 vs. Chinese Taipei in the seven-game series. The first two games in the series, both Chinese Taipei wins, served as exhibition tune-ups for the five-game set that followed, which counts towards international points.
Team USA was paced at the plate by its outfield starters, Ray, Nick Banks (Texas A&M) and Buddy Reed (Florida), which combined to go 8-for-13 with five RBI and five runs scored, stealing three bases. Reed finished 2-for-5 with four RBI, with Banks totaling a 2-for-4 day, with each outfielder swiping a base.
Ray, an All-America outfielder out of Chicago, Ill., has hit .441 (15-for-34) on the summer, with four doubles, one triple and team-highs in walks (six) and steals (nine). Ray and Banks are each riding nine-game hitting streaks to open the Team USA tour.
Daulton Jefferies (California), a native of Atwater, Calif., worked three perfect innings, striking out one and throwing just 36 pitches, with 21 going for strikes. He threw first-pitch strikes to five of the nine hitters he faced and on the summer, Jefferies (1-1) has worked seven innings for Team USA, allowing just one hit. In 2015 for Cal, Jefferies totaled a 2.92 ERA and six wins in 80 innings, fanning 74.
Lefty David Peterson (Oregon) started the fourth inning, working 2.2 innings, allowing four hits and two runs, walking two and striking out three. With two runners on and two outs, lefty Anthony Kay (UCONN) came on in relief to escape the jam. Kay worked 2.1 shutout frames, allowing two hits and striking out four. Zach Jackson (Arkansas) worked a scoreless ninth inning.
Team USA also got hits from Matt Thaiss (Virginia), Bobby Dalbec (Arizona), Bryson Brigman (San Diego), Anfernee Grier (Auburn) and Brendan McKay (Louisville). Ryan Howard (Missouri) scored a run and drew a walk. Thaiss joined Team USA on Saturday night after helping Virginia to the 2015 national championship.
Team USA will return to action at 11 a.m. vs. Chinese Taipei in the finale of the series at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.
In the top of the first inning, Team USA took a 1-0 lead on two hits and an error. Ray led off with a single on a 2-2 offering to rightfield, stealing second base before getting picked off. Reed followed by beating out a chopper to the right side that went for an error, stealing second base and scoring on a two-out RBI single to right-centerfield from Banks.
Team USA plated three runs in the second inning, as Dalbec started the frame after getting grazed by a 0-2 pitch. McKay then dropped a shallow single into rightfield and Ray drew a four-pitch, two-out walk to load the bases. After Dalbec scored on a wild pitch and a pair of runners advanced into scoring position, Reed dropped a two-RBI double into shallow left field.
In the top of the third inning, Howard reached on one-out fielding error and Thaiss singled to leftfield. Dalbec then drew a walk to load the bases and McKay hung a sacrifice fly to leftfield to score Howard.
Chinese Taipei got on the board in the sixth inning, plating two runs in chase Peterson from the game and cut the lead to 6-2.
Banks started a rally in the seventh inning, ripping a single to lead off the inning, stealing second and scoring on Dalbec’s RBI single into left-centerfield.
Ray tripled down the rightfield line to start the eighth, scoring on Reed’s groundout up the middle.
In the ninth inning, Brigman ripped a double to centerfield, allowing Grier, who led off with a pinch-hit single, to score and McKay to motor to third. Ray then hung a sacrifice fly to leftfield to score McKay for an eight-run lead.
Chinese Taipei (2-4) starter Yi-Chih Huang (1-1) worked three innings, allowing five hits and five runs. Kai-Hsiang Hsu, Ming-Chien Lin, Shih-Ying Peng and Wei-Fan Tsai each worked in relief.
