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Walton Leads Team USA to Sweep of Chinese-Taipei

Courtesy USA Baseball

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Click Photo to Enlarge Courtesy: ORU Media Relations

CARY, N.C. – After tight contests in the first three games of the series, the 2008 USA Baseball National Team made light work of the Chinese-Taipei National Team over the weekend and held off Monday night's late-inning rally to earn a sweep of the six game series. The USA-Taiwan series began in 2000, and the teams have an agreement to continue the series in future years.

Team USA head coach Rob Walton, who serves as head coach at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla., will guide the National Team through international competition in July that includes the Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands and the FISU World Championships in the Czech Republic. The U.S. squad has won each of the last two FISU World Championships.

Walton, who served as pitching coach for the 2005 National Team, is assisted with Team USA by pitching coach Jerry Meyers (Old Dominion), Nino Giarratano (San Francisco) and Ritch Price (Kansas).

Team USA edged Team Taiwan 4-3 in 12 innings in the first game of the series, which was played at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. The U.S. squad edged Taiwan 4-2 in 11 innings in the series' second game, which was played at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium in Kannapolis, N.C.

The series then shifted to Durham [N.C.] Bulls Athletic Park for the third, fourth and fifth games of the series, which Team USA won 4-2, 12-1 and 7-3, respectively. The U.S. team finished off the series sweep with a 5-3 victory Monday at Brooks Park, part of the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, N.C.

Walton's pitching staff posted a 1.24 ERA during the six-game series, and none of the 12 pitchers used by Team USA had an ERA higher than 3.00. The staff tallied 74 strikeouts against only 16 walks in 58.0 innings and held Taiwan batters to a .155 batting average.

Meanwhile, Walton's batters hit at a .303 clip with 11 doubles. Team USA established series records for runs and hits (17) in the 12-1 game-four victory.

Team USA faces the Martinsville Mustangs of the Coastal Plain League, a summer wood bat league, Tuesday night at Brooks Field in Cary, N.C., as its final tune-up before heading to Europe Wednesday.

USA Baseball is the National Governing Body of amateur baseball in the United States and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The organization selects and trains the United States Olympic Baseball Team (and all other USA Baseball Professional Teams); the USA Baseball National Team (collegiate); the USA Baseball 18U, 16U and 14U National Teams; and the USA Baseball Women's National Team, all of which participate in various international competitions each year. For more information on USA Baseball please visit usabaseball.com.