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VU’s David Price to Start in Tuesday’s Game with Italy in Brooklyn, N.Y. 7/25/2005 Team USA took three games from Italy over the weekend. The USA vs. Italy Friendship Series now hits the road in Brooklyn, N.Y. Team USA and Italy meet Tuesday (July 26) at 7 p.m. EDT at KeySpan Park in Brooklyn, N.Y. David Price (Vanderbilt, Fr., Murfreesboro, Tenn.) will be on the mound for Team USA. BELOW ARE THE GAME SUMMARIES FROM THE TEAM USA/ITALY FRIENDSHIP SERIES OVER THE WEEKEND…… July 24, 2005 DURHAM, N.C. — J.P. Arencibia (Tennessee, Fr., Miami, Fla.) went 3-for-6 with a home run, two doubles and five RBI as the USA Baseball National Team jumped out early and never looked back Sunday in an 11-3 victory over Italy at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Team USA (8-4) has won each of the first three games of the five-game series and improves to 12-0 all-time against Italy. Arencibia, who raised his team-best batting average to .452, started the scoring with an RBI double in the first, starting a four-run first-frame for the National Team. In the fourth, he blasted a three-run homer and Matt Wieters (Georgia Tech, Fr., Goose Creek, S.C.) followed with a solo homer on the next pitch as Team USA pushed its lead to 8-0. It was again Arencibia who started the scoring for Team USA in a two-run seventh, doubling in a run. Josh Rodriguez (Rice, So., Houston, Texas) later pushed the lead to 10-0 with a bases-loaded RBI single. Hunter Mense (Missouri, So., Liberty, Mo.) capped the USA scoring with a solo homer to right-center in the eighth. Italy spoiled the shutout bid with three runs on four hits, including a pair of home runs, in the top of the ninth. Kyle McCulloch (Texas, So., Houston, Texas) started and earned the victory for Team USA. McCulloch (3-0) allowed just two hits in 6.0 innings of scoreless work with four strikeouts. Adam Davis (Florida, So., Fort Myers, Fla.), Rodriguez and Drew Stubbs (Texas, So., Atlanta, Texas) joined Arencibia with multiple-hit days, each collecting three hits. Rodriguez and Stubbs drove in two runs each; Stubbs had two doubles. Mense scored three times, while Arencibia and Wieters scored twice each. Italy starter Marc Cerbone was saddled with the loss, allowing eight runs, four earned, on seven hits and three walks with no strikeouts in 3.2 innings. TEAM USA 11, ITALY 3 Italy 000 000 003 - 3 7 2 USA (8-4) 400 400 21x - 11 14 2 WP — McCulloch (3-0). LP — Cerbone. Sv — None. A — 3,065. T — 2:50. July 23, 2005 Max Scherzer (Missouri, So., Chesterfield, Mo.) recorded 10 strikeouts, five of which were looking, over 5.0 innings of work for Team USA to earn the victory. He held Italy to one unearned run on four hits and no walks. Team USA, playing as the visitor, plated a run in the top of the third. However, Italy answered with a run in the bottom of the frame. The National Team immediately recaptured the lead in the fourth; Doolittle led off the inning with a double and later scored on a Jeroloman first-and-third sacrifice bunt. The game remained tight until the late innings when Team USA pulled away with two runs in the seventh, two in the eighth and two more in the ninth. LaPorta started the National Team’s late-inning surge, leading off the seventh with a homer to center — his fourth of the season and second in as many games. Italy pushed across two runs in the bottom of the eighth but could get no closer. Riccardo De Santis started and took the loss for Italy, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts in 6.0 innings. Team USA and Italy continue the series at 5 p.m. EDT Sunday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Right-hander Kyle McCulloch (Texas, So., Houston, Texas) draws the start on the hill for Team USA. Southpaws David Price (Vanderbilt, Fr., Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and lefty Joe Savery (Rice, Fr., Bellaire, Texas) are expected to start the series’ final two games, respectively. TEAM USA 8, ITALY 3 USA (7-4) 001 100 222 - 8 12 1 Italy 001 000 020 - 3 7 2 WP — Scherzer (1-1). LP — De Santis. Sv — None. A — 4,148. T — 2:41. July 22, 2005 DURHAM, N.C. — Matt LaPorta (Florida, So., Port Charlotte, Fla.) homered and doubled to spearhead a 13-hit attack as the USA Baseball National Team defeated Italy 10-3 Friday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in the first game of a five-game friendship series between the two teams. Team USA (6-4) has won three of its last four outings. LaPorta led off the fifth with a solo home run to left-center, his third round-tripper of the season. He led off again in the seventh, blasting a double off the top of the wall down the left-field line. LaPorta was one of four USA players with two-hit nights as the team reached the 13-hit plateau for the second consecutive game and the third time in four games. Wes Hodges (Georgia Tech, So., Ooltewah, Tenn.), J.P. Arencibia (Tennessee, Fr., Miami, Fla.) and Adam Davis (Florida, So., Fort Myers, Fla.) also turned in two-hit games. Jon Jay (Miami-FL, So., Miami, Fla.), Shane Robinson (Florida State, So., Tampa, Fla.) and Davis all recorded two-RBI nights. Team USA got on the board with a run in the second and stretched its lead to 4-0 thanks to a three-run fourth. However, Italy answered with three runs in the top of the fifth, pulling to within one run at 4-3. That was as close as the Italians would get, though, as LaPorta’s homer pushed the lead to 5-3 and a five-run seventh put the game away. Starter Ian Kennedy (Southern California, So., Huntington Beach, Calif.) was again masterful, only facing adversity in the three-run fifth. Kennedy (3-1) allowed three runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts over 6.0 innings to earn the victory. Italy starter David Rollandini was saddled with the loss; he allowed five runs on seven hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 4.1 innings. Team USA and Italy continue their Friendship Series at 7 p.m. EDT Saturday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Right-hander Max Scherzer (Missouri, So., Chesterfield, Mo.) will get the nod on the hill for the USA, his third start of the tour. Tentative starters for the remainder of the series against Italy are right-hander Kyle McCulloch (Texas, So., Houston, Texas), southpaw David Price (Vanderbilt, Fr., Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and lefty Joe Savery (Rice, Fr., Bellaire, Texas). TEAM USA 10, ITALY 3 Italy 000 030 000 - 3 7 1 USA (6-4) 010 310 500 - 10 13 1 WP — Kennedy (3-1). LP — Rollandini. Sv — None. A — 5,136. T — 3:03. 2B — Arencibia (2), LaPorta (2). 3B — Jay (1). HR — LaPorta (3). |
