USA Baseball picks up 10-0 win over the Academy Barons

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COMPTON, Calif. – For the third consecutive day, the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team was absolutely dominant on the mound, throwing a four-hit shutout, while the offense erupted with a pair of home runs in a 10-0 win over the Academy Barons at the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy in Compton, Calif.

With the pitching staff continuing to add on to its scoreless inning streak, which currently stands at 32 shutout frames, TJ Friedl (Nevada) set the tone for the offense from the top of the lineup. The Pleasonton, Calif., product reached base in all five of his plate appearances, finishing 4-for-4 and a home run away from the cycle. He was also hit by a pitch, scored two runs, stole a base and drove in a run.

Also helping the offensive cause were Keston Hiura (UC Irvine) and Seth Beer (Clemson) who both hit massive home runs and drove in three runs on the day. Beer’s blast was a three-run shot in the third inning and Hiura smacked the first pitch of the top of the fifth over the wall in left-center.

On the mound, Brendan McKay (Louisville) started and twirled three scoreless innings, striking out three and allowing just one baserunner on a walk. Alex Lange (LSU) and Darren McCaughan (Long Beach State) followed with one inning each before Zach Warren (Tennessee) fired two shutdown frames. David Peterson (Oregon) then closed out the game with a seven-pitch, 1-2-3 stanza.

Team USA will now pack its bags for the international portion of its tour, during which it will play three friendship series. The team will travel first to Taiwan for a five-game set against Chinese Taipei, July 5-9. Due to field condition issues in Taichung, the first three games of the series will now be played at Shingchuang Stadium in Taipei and the final two contests will take place at Hsinchu City Stadium in Hscinchu.

From there, the Red, White and Blue will fly to Japan for a five-game series. The U.S. and Japan will square off at Hard Off Eco Stadium in Niigata, July 12-13, at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo on July 15 and at Kusanagi Stadium in Shizuoka, July 16-17.

To close out its summer tour, Team USA will then make the trek to Cuba for another five-game series. Those games are scheduled to take place in Ciego de Avila (July 23-24), Havana (July 25) and Pinar del Rio (July 26-27).

QUOTES
USA Baseball field manager George Horton
(On the team’s progress)
“We had our 26th player join us today, Cole Sands, so we are intact. It seems like the guys have really bonded with chemistry and getting to know each other and that translated into us playing our most complete game today. Hopefully we can continue to find ways to get better and get used to one another. The way the pitching is going with Coach Snow and Coach Silva, if we don’t give up any runs I like our chances. Our guys are pounding the strike zone and we are starting to learn how to take what I call winning at-bats instead of just getting hits and playing all-star baseball. I think we are becoming a team right before our eyes.”

(On TJ Fried and Keston Hiural)
“TJ and Keston have been screaming at us that they could bring energy once they were inserted into the game. We were trying some different lineups, and I may not be the smartest coach in the world, but when those two guys are in our lineup we have energy. They are not only getting hits but they seem to complement the entire offense, so we are going to have to find a way to keep them in the starting lineup until somebody proves us different.”