After his impressive sophomore campaign, Long Beach State pitcher Darren McCaughan added to his accolades by earning a spot on the 24-man USA collegiate national baseball team.
The righthander went 10-1 with a Big West best 1.98 ERA to pace the Dirtbags as they became the winningest team during coach Troy Buckley’s tenure.
The Big West Pitcher of the Year becomes the 12th Dirtbag to make the USA team. The team began play in Taipei, Taiwan.
McCaughan made his first appearance July 2 against the Academy Barons in Compton. In that outing, the sophomore pitched one inning, giving up three hits to load the bases before getting out of the inning with two strikeouts and a pop-up.
With the invite to play with the national team, the sophomore joins exclusive company as all 11 LBSU players before McCaughan have gone on to be drafted by a MLB team.
The most recent is Garrett Hampson, 2016 Big West Defensive Player of the Year, who was selected in the third round of the 2016 MLB draft.
The USA will compete throughout the month of July with its series against Chinese Taipei, ending July 9th.
The team will then travel to Japan for a five-game series against the Japanese before finishing its play in Cuba July 23-27.