LOS ANGELES - UCLA infielder Chase Strumpf has been selected to the 2018 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, announced the organization on Tuesday.
The sophomore is the 16th UCLA player to earn a spot on the Collegiate National Team and the third in the last five seasons, joining James Kaprielian (2014) and Jon Olsen (2017). He is also the first position player to play for Team USA since Steve Rodriguez in 2010.
The Dana Point, Calif. native will participate in the Collegiate National Team Training Camp from June 27-July 2 at the National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. where he will play against the Coastal Plain League Select and also in the 18th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series. The U.S. will then announce a final 24-man roster to compete in the 42nd USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Series from July 3-9 in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina; and the Seventh Annual USA vs. Cuba International Friendship Series in Cuba from July 13-18.
Strumpf was named a second team All-American this season after leading the Bruins in batting average (.363), runs (59), home runs (12), slugging percentage (.633) and on-base percentage (.475). The second baseman also drove in 53 runs, recorded 23 doubles and walked 45 times. He became the fourth UCLA plater since 2001 to record 50-plus RBIs and 10-plus RBIs in a season.
Strumpf ended the regular season ranked top-10 in the Pac-12 in 10 offensive categories including batting average, runs, RBIs and home runs. In addition, he also helped lead the Bruins to the best fielding percentage in the Pac-12 with a conference-best 178 assists, while committing just two errors for a .992 fielding percentage.
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.