USA Baseball announced the 22-member roster for its 2010 Collegiate National Team and two Cal State Fullerton Titans - Nick Ramirez and Noe Ramriez - made the team. Team USA is comprised of the top non-draft-eligible college players in the United States.
Nick finished third in the Big West in hits, second in home runs and led the league in both doubles and RBI. He also saved a league-leading 11 games on the mound while striking out nearly five batters to every walk he issued. For that, he was named to the Big West's all-conference first team for the second year in a row.
His 11 saves tied him with Mark Kotsay (1995) and Adam Jorgenson (2008) for the seventh-most saves in a single season by any Titan hurler. Nick's 28 doubles rank tied for second all-time (with Shane Costa, 2003) in both Cal State Fullerton and Big West Conference history for a single season performance and was 7th best in the nation in 2010.
Noe was putting up numbers that had him in contention for national pitcher of the year-honors, but then suffered a freak break of the wrist in a freak fall at practice on Apr. 14 that kept him off the hill for nearly a month. The right-hander returned to win seven more games without a loss and was named to the All-Big West first team for the first time in his career.
Noe finished second in the Big West in ERA (2.54), third in opponent's batting average (.229), second in innings pitched (106.), while leading the league in both strikeouts (119) and victories (12).
The 2010 Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year Dylan Floro (Cal State Fullerton) and 2009 Big West Freshman Player of the Year Matt Jensen (Cal Poly) participated in the team trials but did not make the final cut. UC Irvine's Evan Brock was slated as an alternate for the team trials.
Cal State Fullerton Head Coach Dave Serrano will be joining the Ramirez's on their Team USA journey as the pitching coach. Utah's Bill Kinneberg is the skipper of the 2010 squad and will be assisted by Serrano, St. John's Ed Blankmeyer and San Francisco's Nino Giarratano.
The Collegiate National Team begins its summer season Monday evening when they travel to Gastonia, N.C., to face the Gastonia Grizzlies of the Coastal Plain League. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. (PDT) at Sims Legion Park.
The U.S. will play a five-game series against Korea before squaring off against a Japanese Collegiate All-Star Team in a one-game, international friendship competition in Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium on July 21. From there, the team will travel to Taipei, Taiwan for a four-game series against Chinese Taipei at Tien-Mu Stadium beginning July 25.
Team USA will close its summer season at the FISU World University Championships in Tokyo, Japan, from July 30-Aug. 7. The U.S. has won the last three FISU Worlds (2004, '06, '08), while host nation Japan will be looking for its first title.