SARASOTA, Fla. - Owen Murphy (Riverside, Ill.), Walter Ford (McCalla, Ala.), and Riley Stanford (Gainesville, Ga.) combined to toss eight hitless innings as the 18U National Team clinched its seven-game friendship series against Canada with a 16-1 victory at Tropicana Field on Monday in St. Petersburg, Florida. Team USA improved to 4-0 in the series with the win.

The U.S. offense got rolling early by capitalizing on a few Canada errors to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and never let up. Another run in the third made it 3-0 before Team USA used a three-run fourth and a two-run fifth, highlighted by Elijah Green’s (Windermere, Fla.) third dinger of the series and a two-RBI triple from Druw Jones (Suwanee, Ga.), to take an 8-0 lead. After a quiet sixth inning, the stars and stripes piled on eight runs in the final three innings to take a commanding 16-0 lead before Canada scored one in the ninth for a 16-1 final score.

Jones finished 2-for-5 with two triples, two RBIs, and two runs scored in the game and RJ Austin (Atlanta, Ga.) also recorded a multi-hit game to lead Team USA’s offense. Karson Bowen (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) recorded two RBIs of his own in the win while scoring two runs and drawing a pair of walks.

Ford threw three scoreless innings of relief and did not give up a hit while striking out four batters to earn the win. Canada’s Parker Burgess suffered the loss after allowing four earned runs on five hits in two innings on the mound.

Key Moments

• Team USA capitalized on a few miscues by Canada and jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first.
• Jayden Hylton (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) added to the U.S. lead when he knocked a two-out double in the top of the third and came around to score on an Austin single and another Canada error to make it a 3-0 game.
• Green quickly made it 4-0 with his third homer of the series – this one a 456-foot bomb to left-center – in the top of the fourth.
• One batter later, Jones laced a triple into the right field corner and then came home on a wild pitch that gave Team USA a 5-0 advantage.
• Termarr Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) capped off the three-run fourth by drawing a two-out walk, advancing to second on a balk, stealing third, and scoring on an error by Canada to make it 6-0 in Team USA’s favor.
• With his second triple of the day, Jones collected two RBIs and gave the stars and stripes an 8-0 lead in the top of the fifth after back-to-back walks to lead off the inning put Gavin Guidry (Lake Charles, La.) and Bowen on base.
• Guidry, Bowen, and Gavin Kilen (Milton, Wis.) drew three consecutive walks to lead off the top of the seventh and load the bases before Guidry came home on a wild pitch for a 9-0 U.S. lead.
• One batter later, Ryan Clifford (Raleigh, N.C.) drew the fourth walk of the inning to load the bases once again for Jones who reached on an error that allowed Bowen to score and make it a 10-0 game.
• With the bases still loaded, Jackson Holliday (Stillwater, Okla.) brought one run in with a fielder’s choice before two more runs would cross the plate in the inning to give the U.S. a commanding 13-0 lead.
• Bowen delivered a clutch two-RBI double to extend the U.S. lead to 15-0 in the eighth before one last run scored for the red, white, and blue in the ninth for the 16-0 advantage.
• Canada broke up the Team USA pitching staff’s combined no-hitter and the shutout with two hits and a run in the bottom of the ninth but that was all they would manage as the U.S. secured the 16-1 victory.

Notable Information

• Murphy, Ford, and Stanford combined for 13 strikeouts to bring the total punchouts for the U.S. pitching staff to 55 in the series.
• Team USA’s pitchers did not allow a hit in Monday’s win until the bottom of the ninth inning.
• With three dingers in the last two games, Green now leads both teams in longballs in the series.
• Johnson, Paxton Kling (Roaring Spring, Pa.), and Blake Mitchell (Sinton, Texas) have also hit homers in the series, bringing Team USA’s total home run count to seven through four games.
• Six of the seven U.S. home runs in the series have traveled over 400 feet, with Green’s 456-foot bomb on Monday leading the way.
• Johnson leads Team USA in walks with seven so far in the series. Guidry has the second-highest mark with five through four games.

On Deck

• September 7: USA vs. Canada (2:00 p.m. EDT; Bradenton, Fla.; LECOM Park)
• September 8: USA vs. Canada (1:00 p.m. EDT; Bradenton, Fla.; Pirate City)
• September 9: USA vs. Canada (2:00 p.m. EDT; Bradenton, Fla.; LECOM Park)

Social

• Stay tuned to @USABaseball18U on Twitter for the most up-to-date news about the 18U National Team.