BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU pitcher Alex Lange will begin training on Monday with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team in Los Angeles.
Lange is a member of the 24-man USA squad that will compete against teams in the California Collegiate League next week before embarking on trips to Chinese Taipei, Japan, and Cuba for International Friendship Series from July 5 – 26.
Team USA will face Chinese Taipei on July 5-9, Japan on July 12-17 and Cuba on July 23-27.
“This is a magnificent opportunity for Alex, and we’re very proud that he will be representing LSU overseas,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri, who served as an assistant coach for the Collegiate National Team last summer. “It’s a great honor to play for our country, and a pitcher with the ability and character of Alex Lange will be tremendous asset to the USA team.”
Lange, a right-hander from Lee’s Summit, Mo., just completed his sophomore season at LSU, posting an 8-4 mark with a 3.79 ERA in 111.2 innings. Lange recorded 125 strikeouts and limited opponents to a .226 average.
Lange finished second in the SEC in innings pitched and fourth in the league in strikeouts. He was named to the 2016 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional All-Tournament team after defeating Rice in the winners’ bracket round of the regional.
Lange was named a first-team all-American and the National Freshman Pitcher of the Year in 2015, when he was 12-0 with a 1.97 ERA and 131 strikeouts in 114 innings.
Lange is the fifth LSU player during Mainieri’s 10-year tenure to play for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. The others are catcher Micah Gibbs (2008), outfielder Mikie Mahtook (2010), pitcher Kevin Gausman (2011) and shortstop Alex Bregman (2013 and 2014).
To follow Lange and the Collegiate National Team this summer, visit @USABaseball and @USABaseballCNT on Twitter, and @USABaseball on Instagram.