Update on Tony Zych and Team USA - July 3
July 03, 2009 | Baseball
July 3, 2009
CARY, N.C. - Through his first week as a member of the USA Baseball National Team, University of Louisville right-handed pitcher Tony Zych has not allowed an earned run in his two appearances on the mound and has seven total strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work overall.
Zych, who was named to the 2009 USA Baseball National Team on June 24, most recently pitched 2.0 scoreless innings of relief in Team USA's 15-1 win over Guatemala on July 1 in Kannapolis, N.C., did not allow a hit and finished with five strikeouts in his second appearance for Team USA. Zych made his first appearance in the Team USA uniform on June 26 in the team's 8-1 win over Canada in Durham, N.C., as he allowed one unearned run on two hits with two strikeouts in 1.1 innings of relief.
The USA National Team is 7-0 so far this summer with five wins over Canada and two wins over Guatemala, including a 10-0 win on Thursday night. Overall, the USA Baseball National Team (Collegiate) has won 31 consecutive games dating back to last summer.
Up next, Team USA will play two more games with Guatemala on July 3-4 in Cary, N.C., and Durham, N.C., respectively before traveling to the northeastern U.S., for games against the NECBL All-Stars (July 5, Manchester, N.H.), Holyoke (July 6, Holyoke, Mass.) and the North Shore Navigators (July 7, Lynn, Mass.). Team USA will then travel to Japan in preparation for the 37th USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Championship.
More information on the USA National Baseball Team, including a full summer schedule and updated results and stats, can be accessed online at USABaseball.com.
About Louisville RHP Tony Zych
A native of Hazelcrest, Ill., near Chicago who just completed his freshman season with the Cardinals, Zych is among the 22 members of the 2009 USA Baseball National Team, which is comprised of the top non-draft-eligible college players in the United States. He is the first Louisville player to earn a spot on the USA National Team since former Cards' outfielder Mark Jurich was a member of the 2002 USA Baseball National Team, winning a silver medal at the 2002 FISU World University Baseball Championship and capturing the 2002 Haarlem Baseball Week Championship.
Zych was 6-2 overall with two saves, a 3.25 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 44.1 innings pitched in 2009 and opposing batters hit just .235 against him. After spending most of the season in the Cards' bullpen, he moved into the Cards' starting rotation in May with wins in all three of his career starts. After winning starts against Ohio State on May 6 and Connecticut on May 24 in the BIG EAST Tournament title game, he pitched six strong innings against Vanderbilt to earn the victory in the Cards' NCAA Regional title game win over the Commodores.
About Louisville Baseball
Last December, Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell was selected to serve as an assistant coach for the 2009 USA National Team. He is joined by USA Baseball head coach Rick Jones (Tulane head coach) and assistant coaches Rob Cooper (Wright State head coach) and Mike Kennedy (Elon head coach). In three seasons as the Cards' head coach, McDonnell is 135-63 overall with three straight NCAA Regional appearances, two NCAA Super Regional appearances, one NCAA College World Series appearance, two BIG EAST Tournament titles and one BIG EAST regular season title.
The Cardinals closed out their 2009 season on June 6 with an NCAA Super Regional loss at No. 2 Cal State Fullerton. Louisville finished with a 47-18 record overall after sweeping the BIG EAST Conference regular season and tournament titles. U of L advanced to its second Super Regional in three years after earning a 5-3 win over Vanderbilt in the title game of the NCAA Regional at Jim Patterson Stadium, the first ever NCAA Baseball Regional in Louisville.
