CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball today finalized the 28-man roster for the 2026 Collegiate National Team that will compete in the inaugural World Collegiate Baseball Championship at Taichung City Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung City, Taiwan, from July 11-15. The roster was named after 11 days of workouts, practices, and intrasquad scrimmages across North Carolina and Virginia.
“After nearly two weeks of an extremely competitive Training Camp, we are excited to finalize the 28-man roster that will represent the United States in the inaugural World Collegiate Baseball Championship,” said Eric Campbell, USA Baseball’s General Manager of Professional and Collegiate National Teams. “The talent at Training Camp was incredible and made this decision difficult, but we are confident that these 28 players will represent the U.S. well in our quest to win a gold medal.”
The roster is highlighted by three national team alumni. Ryan McPherson (Mississippi State) will make his third national team appearance after playing on USA Baseball’s 2021 15U National Team and last year’s Collegiate National Team. 2024 18U National Team gold medalists Trent Grindlinger (Tennessee) and Nico Partida (Texas A&M) will reunite and don the red, white, and blue for the second time in their careers.
After participating at last year’s Collegiate National Team Training Camp, Tague Davis (Louisville), Easton Hawk (UCLA), Aidan King (Florida), and Tomas Valincius (Mississippi State) will all make their first national team appearance.
A combined four players on the roster have participated in past USA Baseball programming. Jackson Sanders (Auburn) and JD Stein (South Carolina) attended the 2022 16U/17U National Team Development Program together, while Davis, Sanders, and Joshua Whritenour (Florida) all attended the 2023 Prospect Development Pipeline League. Additionally, five players – Davis, Grindlinger, Rett Johnson (NC State), Anthony Pack Jr. (Texas), and Sanders – have attended a past development event jointly hosted in partnership with Major League Baseball, including States Play and the High School All-American Game. Pack Jr. has additionally participated in multiple editions of the Breakthrough Series, DREAM Series, and Hank Aaron Invitational.
Overall, 21 schools and five conferences are represented on the 2026 Collegiate National Team roster. Florida leads all schools with three players apiece, the most of all schools, while Auburn, Mississippi State, Oregon, Texas, and UCLA have two representatives each on the list. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) boasts 15 athletes on the roster to lead all conferences, followed by the Big Ten with six, the Big 12 with four, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with two, and the Sun Belt Conference with one.
The World Collegiate Baseball Championship format will feature five days of games, with three days of pool play followed by the semifinals and medal games. The U.S. will open its pool play slate on July 11 against Korea at 12:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local, face Chinese Taipei on July 12 at 6:30 a.m. ET/6:30 p.m. local, and then play Japan on July 13 at 12:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. local. The semifinals will be played July 14 and the finals, which will consist of gold- and bronze-medal games, will be held July 15.
The 2026 Collegiate National Team will be led by manager Dan Hartleb. He will be joined by Matt Hobbs (pitching coach), Jonathan Hernandez (assistant coach), Tracy Smith (assistant coach), and Tom Walter (assistant coach).
For the most up-to-date information on the Collegiate National Team, visit USABaseball.com and follow @USABaseballCNT and @USABaseball on Twitter/X and Instagram.
2026 Collegiate National Team Roster
(Name - Position - School)
- Jackson Barberi - RHP - Florida
- Tanner Bradley - RHP - Oregon
- Kolby Branch - INF - Georgia
- Tague Davis - INF - Louisville
- Hogan Denny - UTL - Indiana
- Chase Fralick - C/1B - Auburn
- *Trent Grindlinger - UTL - Tennessee
- Landon Hairston - OF - Arizona State
- Grayden Harris - LHP - Southern Miss.
- Luke Harrison - LHP - Texas
- Easton Hawk - RHP - UCLA
- Walker Hooks - LHP - Ole Miss
- Rett Johnson - OF - NC State
- Andrew Johnson - RHP - Southern Cal
- Gavin Kelly - UTL - West Virginia
- Aidan King - RHP - Florida
- Ethan Lund - LHP - Oklahoma State
- *Ryan McPherson - RHP - Mississippi State
- Wylan Moss - RHP - UCLA
- Anthony Pack Jr. - OF - Texas
- *Nico Partida - INF - Texas A&M
- Derrick Pitts - OF - Cincinnati
- Jackson Sanders - LHP - Auburn
- Will Sanford - RHP - Oregon
- JD Stein - INF - South Carolina
- Tomas Valincius - LHP - Mississippi State
- Ryker Waite - INF - Vanderbilt
- Joshua Whritenour - RHP - Florida
* denotes USA Baseball alum
