Box Score | PxP | Cumulative Stats

DURHAM, N.C. – The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team used another strong pitching performance and a tie-breaking two-run homer by Charlie Condon (Georgia) to notch a 5-1 decision for its second consecutive win in the 20th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series Saturday evening at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Tied at 1-1 in the fifth inning, Jace LaViolette (Texas A&M) coaxed a one-out walk, before Condon launched a 3-1 offering from Qing Shao Ba well over the wall in left-center for the go-ahead two-run shot.

LaViolette, who delivered the go-ahead two-run homer in Friday’s series opener, added a second round-tripper two innings later when he sent a laser down the right-field line to drive in two to stretch the U.S. lead to four runs.

The CNT pitching staff would take care of the rest, as Drew Beam (Tennessee), Matt Ager (UC Santa Barbara) and Brandon Neely (Florida) combined to hold CTBA scoreless over the final six frames.

Kaelen Culpepper (Kansas State), who produced the first Team USA run of the day with a two-out single in the second, paced the U.S. offense with a 3-for-4 night at the dish.

KEY MOMENTS

• Team USA struck first for the second night in a row, taking advantage of a walk to Malcolm Moore (Stanford) in the second when Culpepper drilled a two-out offering off the wall in left for a run-scoring single.
• Beam turned in two perfect frames to start the game, but a two-out base hit by Yi Jia Liu brought home the equalizing run in the third.
• With one out and one on in the fifth, Condon came through with a towering drive that snapped the 1-1 deadlock and handed the U.S. the lead for good.
• Culpepper tripled to right in the sixth for his third hit of the game.
• LaViolette extended Team USA’s lead with his second home run of the series.
• Beam allowed just one run on three hits over his 4.0 innings, before Ager added three shutout innings to earn the victory.
• Neely closed out the night with 2.0 dominant innings, allowing just one baserunner while fanning four hitters.

NOTEWORTHY

• LaViolette homered, scored twice and drove in two runs for the second consecutive game.
• In his first action of the series for the U.S., Culpepper singled twice and tripled to register the second three-hit game by a CNT player in the series, joining Griff O’Ferrall (Virginia), who accomplished the feat in Friday’s victory.
• O’Ferrall leads all hitters in the series with his .444 (4-for-9) batting average through the first two games.
• U.S. pitching has struck out 20 batters and allowed just four runs over 18.0 innings through the first two games, good for a 2.00 staff ERA.

ON DECK

• Game three of the 20th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation Baseball will be held Sunday (July 2) at 6 p.m., at Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis.
• The five-game International Friendship Series will continue through Tuesday, with games at DBAP in Durham (July 3) and Segra Stadium in Fayetteville (July 4).
• 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 Training Camp, along with 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 Training Camp.