CARY, N.C. — Cuba rallied for three runs in the ninth inning to beat the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, 6-5, Friday night at the National Training Complex. Team USA was within a strike of winning 5-4, but Cuba used three straight singles to win Game 4, their first win in the 8th Annual USA vs. Cuba International Friendship Series.
“What they did in the ninth is what we’ve been doing to them all series,” said manager Dan McDonnell (Louisville). “Those two-out hits. Those are good hitters and they put together a good rally there in the ninth.”
Yuniesky Larduet Dominguez was the hero with his walk-off single to left field to score Yosvany Alarcon Tardio. Alarcon Tardio had tied the game 5-5 by taking a two-strike offering from Team USA’s Tyler Brown (Vanderbilt) to center field tie the game with two outs.
“You learn what it feels like to lose again,” said McDonnell. “You hope it hurts and you come out tomorrow with a little more edge.”
Team USA (3-1) led 5-3 in the ninth thanks to a go-ahead RBI single by Austin Martin (Vanderbilt) in the seventh and a perfectly placed RBI squeeze bunt by Luke Waddell (Georgia Tech) in the ninth. Spencer Torkelson (Arizona State) gave the Collegiate National Team its first lead with his second homer of the series, a solo shot to left field in the sixth inning.
Team USA extended its lead to 3-1 in the sixth when Colton Cowser (Sam Houston State) scored on a sac fly caught by the third baseman. The lead was short as Cuba quickly tied the game in the bottom of the sixth on Raul Gonzalez Isidora’s two-run homer.
Reid Detmers (Louisville) started and allowed only one run on three hits in his scheduled four-inning appearance. Logan Allen (FIU) allowed two runs, both on Gonzalez Isidora’s homer, in three innings of work, before Brown took the loss in the final 1 2/3 innings.
The Collegiate National Team finishes the 8th Annual USA vs. Cuba International Friendship Series at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday at the Durham Bulls Athletic Complex.
Key Moments
• Cuba led 1-0 after one inning thanks to Yordanis Samon Matamoros’ line-drive single off the glove of third baseman Luke Waddell (Georgia Tech).
• Justin Foscue (Mississippi State) hit a two-out double to right center to score Colton Cowser (Sam Houston State), who had walked, and tie the game 1-1 in the second inning.
• Spencer Torkelson (Arizona State) homered over the left field wall to give Team USA a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning.
• Colton Cowser (Sam Houston State) scored from third on a foul pop up between left field and third base that was caught by the third baseman. Justin Foscue (Mississippi State) lifted the popup, which ended up being a sac fly, to make it 3-1 USA in the sixth.
• Cuba tied the game on a two-run homer from Raul Gonzalez Isidora in the sixth inning.
• Austin Martin (Vanderbilt) gave Team USA the lead back with a two-out, two-strike single through the left side in the seventh inning that scored Luke Waddell (Georgia Tech), who had walked and stole second base.
• Luke Waddell (Georgia Tech) laid down a perfect safety squeeze bunt in the top of ninth to extend Team USA’s lead to 5-3.
• Cuba scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to win the game, first on a Carlos Benitez Perez double to center, next on a two-out, two-strike single from Yosvany Alarcon Tardio, then the game-winner on a single to left field Yuniesky Larduet Dominguez.
Notable Information
• Team USA is 22-16 all-time against Cuba in the USA vs. Cuba International Friendship Series.
• First Secretary Miguel Fraga from the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba in Washington, D.C. threw out the first pitch.
• Team USA clinched the series Thursday and has won six of eight USA vs. Cuba International Friendship Series.
• Team USA has won five straight USA vs. Cuba International Friendship Series.
• Team USA has not announced a starter for Game 5.
• Attendance: 1,652
On Deck
• Saturday vs. Cuba (6:05 p.m.; Durham, N.C.)
• Sunday flight to Taiwan
