DURHAM, N.C. –A five-run seventh inning, featuring home runs from both Jacob Wilson (Grand Canyon) and Brayden Taylor (TCU), propelled the Stars to a 7-0 victory over the Stripes on Sunday evening at Durham Bulls Athletic Park to clinch the Collegiate National Team Training Camp series, three games to one.
After six innings of dominant pitching by both sides, Wilson jumped on the first pitch in the bottom of the seventh and launched it over the Blue Monster for the game’s first run. Just moments later, Jacob Gonzalez (Ole Miss) tacked on two more with a two-RBI single which Taylor followed by hitting a moonshot over the wall in right to break the game open.
Wilson finished 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored, a walk, and an RBI, while Gonzales was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Tre’ Morgan (LSU) added two hits and an RBI as well.
On the mound, four Stars pitchers combined to throw a three-hit shutout, their second of the series. Ross Dunn (Arizona State) started and struck out four in 3.0 innings of one-hit ball. Carson Montgomery followed with 3.0 scoreless innings in his Team USA debut, striking out three, before handing the ball off to winning pitcher Drue Hackenburg (Virginia Tech) for the next two frames. Ryan Bruno (Stanford) pitched a scoreless ninth to secure the victory.
KEY MOMENTS
- The Stripes had the first real scoring opportunity of the contest in the top of the third when Zach Agnos (East Carolina) led off the inning with a double down the right-field line. The Stars retired the next three batters, however, and left him stranded there.
- The Stars put runners on the corners with two outs in the following frame, but a groundout ended the threat.
- Neither team was able to generate much offense until the Stars exploded for five runs on five hits in the bottom of the seventh.
- Jacob Wilson (Grand Canyon) took the first pitch he saw as the leadoff batter in the seventh and deposited it over the Blue Monster in left for the game’s first run. Chris Davis (Arizona) followed with a single to right on the very next pitch and Tre’ Morgan singled to short two batters later. After a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, a groundout put two outs on the scoreboard, but Jacob Gonzalez (Ole Miss) was able to keep the rally going with a two-strike, two-RBI single to center. Brayden Taylor (TCU) then took the next offering and blasted a moonshot to right that made it a 5-0 ballgame.
- The Stars kept the pressure on in the eighth as Jacob Wilson (Grand Canyon) narrowly missed another home run with a double high off the wall in left. A wild pitch and three consecutive walks brought him around the basepaths to push the lead to six. Dylan Crews (LSU) the grounded into a fielder’s choice to bring in another run to account for the game’s final score.
NOTABLE INFORMATION
- With two more hits on Sunday, Jacob Wilson (Grand Canyon) now leads all CNT players with five hits in the series, four of which have gone for extra bases (two doubles, two home runs). He also homered in Friday’s contest in Durham and is tops among all players with a .417 batting average (5-for-12) through the first four games.
- Dylan Crews (LSU) added an RBI in the eighth inning, pushing his CNT-high RBI total to four.
- Enrique Bradfield (Vanderbilt) drew three walks on Sunday, moving him into a tie with Brayden Taylor (TCU) for the most on the team this summer with four.
- Drew Beam (Tennessee) gave the Stripes three quality innings as a starter, allowing no runs on three hits with one walk and one strikeout.
- Hagen Smith (Arkansas) added two innings of shutout relief for the Stripes as well, fanning four.
- Vance Honeycutt (North Carolina) picked up his first hit of the summer with an infield single and then promptly stole second base, making him the only player with multiple stolen bases (2) in the series.
- The pitching staffs from both teams were helped by a total of three double plays, with the Stars turning two and Stripes turning one.
- With their win on Sunday, the Stars clinched the series victory, three games to one. The Stars vs. Stripes series will conclude with a 6:05 p.m. ET contest at Truist Field in Charlotte, N.C., Monday evening.
ON DECK
- Monday, July 4: Stars vs. Stripes (6:05 p.m. ET; Truist Field, Charlotte, N.C.)
SOCIAL MEDIA
- Stay tuned to @USABaseballCNT on Twitter for the most up-to-date news about the 2022 Collegiate National Team Training Camp.
