Louisvilles Funkhouser invited to try for Team USA
Louisville sophomore righthander Kyle Funkhouser has earned an invitation to compete for a roster spot on the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
A native of Oak Forest, Ill., Funkhouser is slated to participate in the team's training camp starting June 19, while the final 24-man roster will be announced on June 29. Funkhouser becomes the seventh Louisville player to earn an invitation from the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team joining Nick Burdi (2013), Ryan Wright (2010), Phil Wunderlich (2009), Tony Zych (2009), Justin Marks (2008) and Mark Jurich (2002).
Advertisement
Funkhouser leads the pitching staff for the fifth-ranked Cardinals with his 11-2 record and 1.74 ERA in 14 weekend starts this season. In 93.0 innings pitched, he has 92 strikeouts, while opposing batters are hitting just .202 against him. In eight American Conference starts this season, he finished 7-1 with a 0.99 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 54.2 innings. Entering the postseason, Funkhouser has not allowed an earned run in his last 40.0 innings pitched dating back to the first inning of his win at Houston on April 11.
Overall, Funkhouser is the 14th player coached or signed by Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell to earn international baseball experience. In 2009, McDonnell served as an assistant coach for the USA National Team, which finished with a 19-5 record overall and won the World Baseball Challenge in Canada.
The 2014 Collegiate National Team will be coached by Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn. The team's assistant coaches include Rob Childress (head coach at Texas A&M), Ray Birmingham (head coach at New Mexico) and Steve Rodriguez (head coach at Pepperdine).
The Collegiate National Team will play games against Chinese Taipei and Japan on U.S. soil while also making trips to The Netherlands for the Honkbal - Haarlem Baseball Week and to Havana, Cuba for a Friendship Series against Cuba. The Collegiate National Baseball team begins play on June 21 with the Red, White and Blue Tour in various cities across the United States.