TEMPE -- Spencer Torkelson has been selected as the 39th Sun Devil to represent the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and will join the 2018 edition of Team USA in three international friendship series this summer.
The freshman has taken the nation by storm with his long-ball prowess, currently leading the NCAA with 20 home runs this season - 10 more than any other freshman in the country. The total is the most by a Sun Devil since Brett Wallace his 22 in 2008 and Torkelson easily broke Barry Bonds' ASU freshman record of 11 earlier this season.
"It is a great honor to represent both the United States and Arizona State University," Torkelson said. "I hope to go into this summer and make our fans proud and gain a valuable experience with some of the top players and coaches in the country."
He is just the fourth freshman in Pac-12 history to reach 20 home runs and needs just one to tie the Pac-12 freshman record, currently held by USC's Jeff Clement (2003) and Gonzaga's Jeff Hainline (1984).
Since the introduction of BBCOR batting technology in 2011, Torkelson is just the second freshman in the NCAA to hit 20 home runs in a season and only the 37th player overall.
Torkelson still has his sights set on the NCAA freshman record of 26 home runs, posted by Georgia Southern's Todd Greene in 1990. The Sun Devil school record is 27, set by Mitch Jones in 2000.
The freshman has a .331 average this season, with 29 of his 49 hits this season going for extra bases as he has slugged .797 on the year - good for 5th nationally. He is fifth in the Pac-12 with 41 RBIs, surpassing the team leader for the entirety of last season. He is on pace to become the first Sun Devil to reach 50 RBIs since Abe Ruiz had 53 in 2012.
Torkelson's .440 on-base percentage is 10th in the Pac-12 this season and his 118 total bases are second in the league and fifth nationally this season.
Torkelson joins an illustrious list of Sun Devils to represent their country over the years, including Floyd Bannister (1975), Bob Horner (1976), Kevin Romine (1981), Oddibe McDowell (1984), Dustin Pedroia (2002 and 2003) and current MLB players Mike Leake (2008), Deven Marrero (2011) and Trevor Williams (2012).
Torkelson is the first Sun Devil to be named to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team since Ryan Burr was selected in 2013 and 2014. In total, 36 Sun Devils have been selected a total 39 times to represent the United States with Torkelson's addition this summer. Only USC (70) and Stanford (51) have more all-time selections than ASU among all teams in the NCAA.
The 2018 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team
The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team will participate in three international friendship series in 2018, beginning with the 18th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series that will be held in North Carolina from June 28 - July 2. The U.S. will then compete in the 42nd USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Series from July 3-9 in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina; and the 7th Annual USA vs. Cuba International Friendship Series in Cuba from July 13-18. Seven Collegiate National Team games will be streamed live on USABaseball.com, as well as Facebook Live and YouTube. For more information on USA Baseball and the Collegiate National Team, follow @USABaseball on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter; and @USABaseballCNT on Twitter.