Box Score | PxP | Cumulative Stats

CARY, N.C. – The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team opened the 20th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series with a 7-3 victory Friday evening at the National Training Complex.

Jace LaViolette (Texas A&M) broke up a scoreless pitcher’s duel with a two-run homer in the fifth, before singling to spark a five-run rally in the eighth that ultimately put the game out of reach.

A trio of Team USA hurlers consisting of starting pitcher Trey Yesavage (East Carolina) and relievers Fran Oschel III (Duke) and Christian Coppola (Rutgers), teamed up to blank CTBA on four hits through the first seven innings.

After a two-out home run ended the CNT’s shutout bid in the top of the eighth, the home club pushed five runs across the plate in the home half of the inning.

Griff O’Ferrall (Virginia) paced Team USA’s 11-hit attack, finishing 3-for-5 with a pair of steals.

KEY MOMENTS

• Yesavage and Oschel joined forces to work out of a two-on, nobody-out jam in the third after back-to-back Chinese Taipei singles started the inning.
• Yesavage coaxed a 5-3 double-play grounder for the first two outs of the frame, before Oschel induced an inning-ending pop up to keep the game scoreless.
• Oschel proceeded to strike out four of the next five Chinese Taipei hitters before hitting Hsiao Yun Chen with a 1-2 pitch in the fifth; the right-hander won a 12-pitch battle with Yi Jia Liu for the final out of the inning.
• With two out in the home half of the fifth, O’Ferrall lined his second hit of the game up the middle, setting up LaViolette’s 410-foot blast to right-center that handed the U.S. a 2-0 lead.
• Four Team USA pitchers held Chinese Taipei scoreless over the first 7 2/3 innings, before a two-out solo shot off the bat of Wen-Hsio Ma made it a 2-1 game.
• The U.S. responded, using back-to-back singles from LaViolette and Charlie Condon (Georgia) to initiate the game’s key rally; a defensive miscue on a Jac Caglianone (Florida) chopper allowed the first run to cross the plate, and a pair of walks forced home a second.
• Ryan Stafford’s (Cal Poly) fielder’s choice pop up to shallow right brought in a third run, before consecutive singles from Rodney Green Jr. (Cal) and O’Ferrall capped the scoring.
• Chinese Taipei strung together three straight hits to spark a two-run outburst of its own in the ninth, but right-hander Tyson Neighbors (Kansas State) induced a pair of ground balls to extinguish the threat.

NOTEWORTHY

• Yesavage allowed three singles over 2 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out a pair of hitters.
• Oschel finished with four punchouts over 2.1 hitless frames to earn the victory and combined with Coppola to hold Chinese Taipei to one hit over 4 1/3 innings of relief.
• Chinese Taipei recorded double plays in three consecutive innings to negate CNT scoring opportunities in the fifth, sixth and seventh.
• LaViolette finished 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs to complement O’Ferrall’s three-hit performance.
• Six Team USA pitchers combined to strike out 10 Chinese Taipei hitters.
• Eight of nine hitters in the CNT’s starting lineup recorded at least one hit, while five drove in a run.

ON DECK

• Game two of the 20th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation Baseball will be held Saturday (July 1) at 6:35 p.m., at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham.
• The five-game International Friendship Series will continue through July 4, with games at DBAP in Durham (July 1 and July 3), Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis (July 2) and Segra Stadium in Fayetteville (July 4).
• The National Training Complex will host the opening three games of the 44th USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Championship Series from July 7-9, while games four and five of the series will be played at Joseph Riley Jr. Park in Charleston on July 11 and 12.
• Tickets for this year’s Collegiate National Team Training Camp, along with all tickets to Team USA’s games against Chinese Taipei and Japan, can be found HERE.

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Stay tuned to @USABaseballCNT on Twitter for the most up-to-date news about the 2023 Collegiate National Team Training Camp.