On Tuesday night, Rutgers starting pitcher Christian Coppola made the most of his opportunity at the 2023 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp. He combined with five other pitchers for a shutout as the Stars defeated the Stripes 16-0.
Coppola threw three innings of one hit ball with four strikeouts and no walks. He was filthy at times with his breaking ball and had total command on the mound.
His standout performance came on day three of a four day training camp for USA Baseball in Cary, North Carolina. Coppola is one of 56 college players competing for a spot on the 26 man roster for the Collegiate National Team. Training camp concludes on June 28. The squad selected will face Chinese Taipei and Japan from June 30-July 12. The annual series’ will take place for the 20th year against Chinese Taipei and 44th time against Japan.
This past season, Coppola became the first freshman in Rutgers history to be named All-Big Ten First Team. He led all Big Ten starting pitchers with a 3.68 ERA while finishing with a 5-5 record along with a 1.33 WHIP, 71 strikeouts and 37 walks in 66.0 innings. Opponents had just a .240 batting average against Coppola.
“Christian had a great year for us and accomplished some special things for a first-year player,” head coach Steve Owens said after Coppola was invited to training camp. “He is a gifted pitcher and a great competitor. This is a tremendous opportunity for him to continue to challenge himself against the best and keep developing.”
In addition to Coppola, Rutgers shortstop Josh Kuroda-Grauer was also invited to USA Baseball’s training camp. He has not played in any of the first three intrasquad game so far.
Watch a few highlights of Coppola’s dominant performance on Tuesday night below.
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troutfisher73
June 28, 2023 at 7:28 am
Just a clarification: Chinese Taipei is Taiwan.
Aaron Breitman
June 28, 2023 at 8:09 am
Thanks I fixed.
FlaRef
June 28, 2023 at 9:47 am
This kid can be special next season as the Friday Knight starter! Looking forward to the classic games and his performance. Hope JKG can make the team and get some work done over the Summer, too!
FlaRef
June 28, 2023 at 10:06 am
FYI, USA baseball has the official team name as Chinese Taipei.