FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team Stars vs. Stripes series wrapped up on Thursday evening at Segra Stadium in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with the Stars earning a 6-3 victory over the Stripes.
The Stars close out the series with a 4-1-1 record while the Stripes finished with a 1-4-1 record.
The Stripes struck first in the contest thanks to timely hitting by Tague Davis (Louisville) in the second inning. With the bases loaded following hits by Brady Ballinger (Kansas) and Tyler Smith (NC A&T) and a walk by Broedy Poppell, he delivered a single to right field, which scored the first two runs of the game.
In the third inning, the Stars exploded for five runs on as many hits. After a pair of base hits by Mulivai Levu (UCLA) and Chris Rembert (Auburn) and a walk by Vahn Lackey (Georgia Tech) loaded up the bases, Lucas Moore (Louisville) drove in the first run of the frame on a sacrifice fly to right field. Two at-bats later, AJ Gracia (Virginia) launched a three-run home run to right field to make it 4-2. Then, Zion Rose (Louisville) scored on Eric Becker’s (Virginia) RBI double to right field after using a single and error to get into scoring position.
Becker tallied his second RBI of the contest in the fifth inning to extend the Stars’ lead to 6-2. With runners at the corners on one out, Becker hit a ball to deep left field to bring Cholowsky home after he led off the inning, stole second, and moved to third on Gracia’s second hit of the night.
The Stripes cut their deficit to 6-3 in the seventh when KJ Scobey’s (South Carolina) sacrifice fly to center field scored Tyler Smith, who reached on a leadoff walk and got into scoring position on Poppell’s double to left center. Ricky Ojeda (UC Irvine) stopped the Stripes from putting together a late rally, as he hurled the final two innings in shutout fashion and tallied four strikeouts.
Becker, Davis, Gracia, and Rose each tallied two hits to lead all players in the contest, while Gracia had a game-high three RBIs and Becker and Davis had two apiece. Rose closed out the series with a Training Camp-leading .706 batting average (12-for-17), while Gracia finished Training Camp with a series-high eight RBIs.
On the mound, a combined seven pitchers across both squads had scoreless outings. The Stars staff’s best outing came from Jason DeCaro (North Carolina), who threw three shutout innings and gave up just one hit while fanning two batters. The Stripes’ top effort came from Aidan King (Florida), who tossed two hitless innings with a strikeout.
USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team will be announced on July 4. The squad will play in the 45th USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Series from July 8-13 at various locations across Japan. Additionally, select players will form a Collegiate National Team Prospects squad and compete against the Appalachian League Select Team on Friday, July 4, at Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis, North Carolina. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. ET, and the contest will be streamed on @USABaseball on YouTube.
For the most up-to-date information on the Collegiate National Team, visit USABaseball.com and follow @USABaseballCNT and @USABaseball on Twitter/X, and @USABaseball on Instagram.
