DURHAM, N.C. – Behind another big night from its offense and more shutdown pitching, the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team ran away with its fourth-consecutive win in the 20th International Friendship Series, routing Chinese Taipei by a 17-1 score in seven innings on Monday evening at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Griff O’Ferrall (Virginia) continued his torrid start to the CNT tour, logging his third multi-hit performance of the series with a 4-for-5 night and four runs batted in. Kaelen Culpepper (Kansas State) added three hits—including a pair of home runs—and matched O’Ferrall with four RBIs.
Team USA scored four times in the second to take an early lead, then plated seven runs in the fifth to establish a double-digit lead that Chinese Taipei would never seriously threaten.
Chinese Taipei scored its only run in the fourth, snapping an 18-inning scoreless streak that extended back to the fourth inning of game two.
However, after allowing just one baserunner in Sunday’s game three shutout victory, four U.S. pitchers combined to limit the opposition to five hits. Luke Holman fanned five in 3.0 scoreless innings and Ben Abeldt (TCU) struck out five of the six hitters he faced over two perfect frames.
KEY MOMENTS
- Malcolm Moore’s (Stanford) one-out hot shot back to the mound went for an infield single to ignite Team USA’s four-run second; Seaver King (Wake Forest) followed with an RBI triple into the right-field corner to open the scoring.
- With two out, O’Ferrall delivered his second consecutive single to drive in King, and **JJ Wetherholt **(West Virginia) hit the first pitch he saw over the right-field wall for a two-run shot that made it a 4-0 game.
- A leadoff walk to Jace LaViolette (Texas A&M), followed by a hit batsman and a Culpepper infield single, loaded the bases with nobody out in the third; Chinese Taipei reliever Kai Hsiang Hsu recorded back-to-back strikeouts to nearly escape the inning unscathed, but Rodney Green Jr. (Cal) coaxed a free pass to force home the fifth U.S. run of the night.
- Chinese Taipei put its only notch in the scoring column in the fourth, snapping a string of 18 consecutive scoreless frames from Team USA pitching. Yu Wei Kao doubled to start the inning, before Tai Lin Tsai brought him home with a two-out two-bagger to left.
- The U.S. broke the game wide open in the fifth, sending 11 batters to the plate; Culpepper sparked the outburst with the first of his two homers to lead off the inning, before O’Ferrall drove home two with a base hit and Charlie Condon (Georgia) launched a one-out grand slam to extend the margin to 12-1.
- Culpepper added a two-run shot in the seventh, and O’Ferrall capped the scoring with another run-scoring base hit to secure the 17-1 victory.
NOTEWORTHY
- Five Team USA hitters logged at least two hits in the victory; in addition to O’Ferrall’s four hits and Culpepper’s three, LaViolette added a 2-for-3 night, Moore finished 2-for-5 with three runs scored, and King went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.
- Four U.S. hitters recorded multi-RBI nights as well, led by four apiece from O’Ferrall, Condon and Culpepper and complemented by Wetherholt’s two RBIs.
- O’Ferrall hiked his club-best batting average to .611 (11-for-18) in the series.
- The U.S. clubbed four home runs and has out-homered Chinese Taipei by a 10-1 margin over the four games.
- Team USA pitchers struck out a series-high 13 batters in just seven innings and have totaled 42 K’s while issuing just five walks over 34.0 total innings vs. Chinese Taipei.
ON DECK
- The fifth and final game of the 20th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) will be held Tuesday (July 4) at 6 p.m., at Segra Stadium in Fayetteville.
- 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, including 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.
