TAIPEI, TAIWAN – The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team beat Chinese Taipei twice Thursday to clinch the 19th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series, 2-1. The Collegiate National Team won the series in Taiwan for the first time ever after tying the series in its previous three trips to Taiwan.
Team USA won the first game 12-5 before dominating the second game 10-4. The Collegiate National Team now holds a 15-0-4 advantage in the USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series.
Team USA hit .330 for the series, led by Heston Kjerstad’s (Arkansas) five hits in Game 3 and .700 batting average (7-10) for the series. Kjerstad leads the team in average (.600) and hits (12) through the first eight games and is tied for the team-lead in total bases (17).
USA 12, Chinese Taipei 5 – Series Game 2
In a game that finished 23 hours, 52 minutes after its first pitch and was played in two cities two hours apart, the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team beat Chinese Taipei, 12-4. The game started Wednesday at Taichung City Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan, and was 1-1 in the fourth before a rainstorm forced the game to be suspended and moved to Thursday at Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei.
Chinese Taipei took a 4-3 lead to the bottom of the sixth, before Team USA broke it open with a seven-run inning. Austin Martin (Vanderbilt) provided the exclamation point in the sixth with a three-run homer after Team USA had already plated three, including two on a double by Luke Waddell (Georgia Tech).
Martin led Team USA with three hits and four RBIs and was a double away from the cycle. Waddell, Tanner Allen (Mississippi State), Justin Foscue (Mississippi State), and Alika Williams (Arizona State) all had two hits. Williams drove in three and Waddell had two RBIs and two runs scored.
Asa Lacy (Texas A&M) started and went the first four innings on Wednesday, allowing one run on two hits while striking out three. Tyler Brown (Vanderbilt) picked up the win in two innings of work and Jeff Criswell (Michigan) earned a three-inning save, his first of the summer.
USA 10, Chinese Taipei 4 – Series Game 3
Alika Williams (Arizona State) and Nick Loftin (Baylor) drilled three-run homers in the sixth and seventh innings to turn a comfortable 4-0 lead into a commanding 10-0 advantage, as the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team rolled to a 10-4 win over Chinese Taipei. The win clinched the three-game series for Team USA, 2-1.
Heston Kjerstad (Arkansas) also homered in the sixth inning, a solo shot, as part of a five-hit, three-RBI night. Loftin had two hits, scored two runs, and drove in four, while Williams had two hits and three RBIs.
Reid Detmers (Louisville) started and was dominant in his scheduled four innings. He went four scoreless, allowing only one hit and striking out three to get the win, his first for Team USA.
Key Moments
• Austin Martin (Vanderbilt) tripled to right field in the third inning of Game 2, then was brought home on an RBI groundout from Colton Cowser (Sam Houston State) to tie the game 1-1 before it was suspended due to rain.
• Austin Martin (Vanderbilt) hit a three-run homer down the left field line as part of a seven-run sixth inning of Game 2 to send Team USA to a 12-5 win.
• Heston Kjerstad (Arkansas), Alika Williams (Arizona State), and Nick Loftin (Baylor) all homered in the sixth and seventh innings of Game 3 to help Team USA clinch the series.
Notable Information
• Team USA leads the 19th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series, 15-0-4.
• Team USA is 80-13-2 all-time in the USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series.
• Team USA scored 10+ runs in back-to-back games against Chinese Taipei for the first time since July 24-25, 1995.
• Team USA’s 12 runs were tied for the sixth-most in the 95-game history of the series.
• Team USA’s 12 runs were tied for the most in the series since Team USA scored 13 on July 1, 2007 in Cary, N.C.
• Team USA’s seven-run margin of victory in Game 2 of the series was the widest in a game by either team in the series since Team USA won 10-2 on June 28, 2015 in Cary, N.C.
• There were three rain delays in Game 2 of the series. The first was a brief stoppage in the second inning in Taichung, the second suspended the game in the fourth and made the teams wait until Thursday to play in Taipei, and the third came after the fourth inning in Taipei that nearly cancelled the rest of the series.
• Chinese Taipei won Game 1 on Tuesday, 2-1, to snap a 10-game losing streak against the Collegiate National Team.
• The Collegiate National Team won the series in Taiwan for the first time ever. Team USA and Chinese Taipei had previously tied all three series in Taiwan (2005, 2010, 2016).
• Team USA slashed .330/.398/.550 as a team for the series with 14 extra-base hits.
• Team USA outscored Chinese Taipei in the series, 23-11.
• Team USA woke up Thursday not knowing where or when they would play.
• Game 1 was the first in the series at Taichung City Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan.
On Deck
• Team USA plans to play a local professional team Friday at 2 a.m. ET at Taichung City Stadium.
• Next week: 43rd USA vs Japan Collegiate All-Star Series
Social
• Stay tuned to @USABaseballCNT on Twitter and visit USABaseball.com for the most up-to-date news about the Collegiate National Team.
