LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Four University of Louisville student-athletes will be in North Carolina this week participating in training camp for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
Freshman Alex Binelas and sophomores Reid Detmers, Michael Kirian and Bobby Miller will represent the Cardinals at training camp with the hopes of making the final 24-man roster.
Training camp is underway at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C., with the four-game Red-Blue Series set to take place Thursday through Sunday. The USA Collegiate National Team, managed this summer by Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell, is scheduled to play a five-game series against Cuba July 2-6 at multiple sites across North Carolina. They will then travel to Taichung, Taiwan for five games against Chinese Taipei July 9-12 and wrap up with five games at Japan July 16-21.
Louisville has had 11 student-athletes compete with the USA Collegiate National Team previously, most recently with Devin Hairston and Brendan McKay in 2016. The four players are the most the Cardinals have had with the team in any one year.
A freshman All-American in 2019, Binelas had a standout season for the Cardinals in his first year. The Oak Creek, Wis., native finished the season with a .291 average, 14 doubles, 14 home runs and 59 RBIs. He was the first Louisville freshman to hit double-digit home runs since Chris Dominguez in 2007. Binelas was an All-ACC second team selection and earned freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the NCBWA.
Detmers turned in arguably the most prolific single season by a pitcher in Louisville baseball history in 2019. The sophomore was 13-4 overall with a 2.78 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 113.1 innings. His 13 wins matched UofL's single-season record, while he went flying past the previous single-season mark of 146 strikeouts. Detmers garnered All-America honors from six different organizations, including first team recognition by the ABCA, D1Baseball, NCBWA and Perfect Game, and became the seventh Louisville player to be named the conference pitcher of the year.
Kirian had a breakout campaign in his second year with the Cardinals. The southpaw led UofL with a 1.69 ERA while going 3-1 with five saves in 26 overall appearances. Kirian gave up just six earned runs with 42 strikeouts in 32 innings. The New Reigel, Ohio, native kept his strong work going in the postseason, picking up a win and a save in the NCAA Louisville Regional and adding a save in Louisville's win over Auburn at the NCAA College World Series.
Starting as the closer for the Cardinals before moving into the starting rotation, Miller amassed a 7-1 mark in 2019 with a 3.83 ERA and a pair of saves in 80 innings of work. The sophomore was a force for the Cardinals during its run in the NCAA Championship, turning in three excellent starts. Miller tallied a victory in an elimination game in the NCAA Regional against Indiana, before twirling eight no-hit innings against East Carolina in the Super Regional round to send Louisville to the College World Series. In the CWS, the right-hander allowed just one run in four innings against Auburn before having his start cut short by rain.