Official USA Baseball ReleaseRICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky University freshman starting pitcher Christian Friedrich was one of 15 players to accept an invitation to the 2006 USA Baseball National Team Trials, USA Baseball announced Thursday. The trials will be held June 24 - July 1 in conjunction with the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL).
The 2006 Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year went 10-2 in his first year at Eastern and led the conference in ERA (1.98) and strike outs per game (13), with the latter mark ranking second in the nation. The first-team All-OVC selection struck out 118 batters in 82.0 innings and held opponents to a .204 batting average.
Friedrich, recently named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America, also hurled the fifth no-hitter in school history and first since 1992 on March 26 against Morehead State.
The USA Baseball National Team will be selected from the pool of players at the trials. The first 20 player invitations were announced in mid-May. The official 22-man team roster will be announced on July 2.
Team USA will also participate in the 35th Annual USA vs. Japan Collegiate Championship Series and in International Friendship series versus Chinese Taipei, Germany and Korea. The summer will end in Havana, Cuba at the III FISU World University Championship where the USA is the defending gold medalist.
