CARY, N.C. – In game five of USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team Stars vs. Stripes series, the Stars shut out the Stripes, 4-0, on Wednesday evening at the National Training complex in Cary, North Carolina.
The win was fueled by multi-hit outings from four different batters along with a 10-inning dominant performance from the pitching staff of Trey Beard (Florida State), Evan Dempsey (FGCU), Gabe Gaeckle (Arkansas), Cole Carlon (Arizona State), and Jacob Dudan (NC State). The staff combined to allow just five hits and one walk and fanned 11 batters in the victory. Dempsey shined on the mound with a game-high five strikeouts in 3.0 innings pitched, while Beard was credited with the win for his four scoreless innings.
With one game left in the series, the Stars improve to 3-1-1 while the Stripes move to 1-3-1.
The Stars used five hits to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. With runners at the corners following a Lucas Moore (Louisville) leadoff double and Roch Cholowsky (UCLA) outfield single, an AJ Gracia (Virginia) RBI single up the middle plated the first run of the frame. After a groundout put runners in scoring position, Ace Reese’s (Mississippi State) RBI single to right field doubled the Stars lead.
In the second inning, Eric Becker (Virginia) led off with a triple down the right field line and then scored on Tyler Bell’s (Kentucky) sacrifice fly to center field to extend the Stars’ lead to 3-0.
Cholowsky tallied his second hit of the night in the fifth inning when he hit a leadoff home run over the left field wall to score what was ultimately the final run of the contest.
Moore led all players at the plate with a 3-for-5 outing, while Burress, Cholowsky, Gracia, and Cam Kozeal (Arkansas) each tallied two hits in the contest. Alongside the Stars pitching staff, the Stripes bullpen trio of Ryan Lynch (North Carolina), Cole Gibler (Arkansas), and Ryan McPherson (Mississippi State) combined for five scoreless innings across the final frames of the contest. Lynch also tallied a game-high five strikeouts in his 2.0 innings pitched.
USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team Training Camp Stars vs. Stripes series will conclude on Wednesday, July 3, at Segra Stadium in Fayetteville, 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.
