USA Baseball one-hits the Conejo Oaks 6-0

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ANAHEIM, Calif. – Pitching continued to dominate the day for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team as it posted its second consecutive shutout, this time one-hitting the Conejo Oaks in a 6-0 victory at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

North Carolina right-hander JB Bukauskas was dominant early on, fanning seven in four near-perfect innings. Outside of a leadoff double in the second, the Oaks’ only hit of the contest, he retired every batter that he faced, including striking out six of his last seven opposing hitters.

Tim Cate (UCONN) followed that effort up with an equally impressive four frames of his own, striking out five while yielding only two runners, both on walks, before finishing strong by retiring the last 11 batters that he faced. Pitching on back-to-back days, Tyler Johnson (South Carolina) then closed out the game with a 1-2-3 stanza in the bottom of the ninth, striking out two of his own.

As the visiting team in Friday’s contest, the U.S. wasted precious little time jumping on the scoreboard first as Evan White (Kentucky) drew a leadoff walk and later came around to score on an RBI single by fellow Bluegrass State collegian Brendan McKay (Louisville).

In the sixth, Team USA staged a two-out rally when McKay was hit by a pitch and then scored shortly thereafter on a triple by Jake Burger (Missouri State). Burger then trotted home a few pitches later when a pitch skipped to the backstop.

TJ Friedl (Nevada) closed out the scoring in the top of the ninth, taking a two-out, 3-2 offering with the bases loaded and ripping it down the right-field line for a three-RBI double.

Team USA will close out the stateside portion of its summer tour on Saturday when it returns to the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy in Compton for a rematch against the Academy Barons at 1 p.m.