University of Houston Athletics
Sullivan Improves to 4-0 with USA National Team
7/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
July 15, 2002
STRONGSVILLE, Ohio - TEAM USA RUNS WINNING STREAK TO 10 GAMES
STRONGSVILLE, OHIO - Brad Sullivan (RHP, So, Houston) pitched six solid innings to earn his fourth victory in as many starts for the USA Baseball National Team, as the Red, White and Blue ran their winning streak to ten games with a 4-2 triumph over the Northern Ohio Baseball Club Sunday night at Mills Field.
Sullivan (4-0) allowed just two runs on six hits while striking out five, and got excellent relief help over the final three frames. Lefty Abe Alvarez (LHP, So, Long Beach State) and righty Chad Cordero (RHP, So, CS Fullerton) each worked a perfect inning of relief, and Huston Street (RHP, Fr, Texas) recorded the final three outs in the ninth to notch his second save of the summer.
Team USA picked up an unearned run in the top of the first when Aaron Hill (IF, So, LSU) reached on an error to start the game. After a single by Michael Aubrey (IF, So, Tulane), Shane Costa's (OF, So, CS Fullerton) two-out single to right field brought Hill home. Then in the second, back-to-back doubles by Dustin Pedroia (IF, Fr, Arizona State) and Hill, and another run-scoring single by Aubrey gave Team USA a 3-0 advantage.
A solo home run to right center field by Rickie Weeks (OF, So, Southern) in the third - his first of the summer - padded the lead for Sullivan to 4-0. But Northern Ohio broke through in the bottom of the third when Travis McAndrews drilled a double, scoring Kevin Estrada all the way from first base. They added a second run in the fifth on a Nick Mosich base hit that again plated Estrada, cutting the lead to 4-2. But that would be the final scoring opportunity of the night for Northern Ohio.
Northern Ohio starter Chris Cordiero lasted 7.1 innings before being relieved by Rhett Gulledge. Cordiero was touched for four runs (three earned) on eight hits and was saddled with the loss. Aubrey went 2-for-4 in the game, raising his Team USA-leading batting average to .474.
The 2002 USA Baseball Red, White and Blue Tour concludes on Monday evening, July 15 with a 6:00 pm EST contest against the Great Lakes League All-Stars at Mills Field in Strongsville. Grant Johnson (1-0, 2.08, RHP, Fr, Notre Dame) is slated to take the mound for Team USA.
Team USA's overall record now stands at 14-2 with just one game remaining in America before the team moves overseas to compete in the first of two major international events. The USA Baseball National Team will open their gold medal defense of the Haarlem Honkbal Baseball Week on Friday, July 19 at 7:00 pm (local time) against Chinese Taipei, in Haarlem, The Netherlands.
The USA Baseball National Team is preparing to compete later this summer in the first-ever FISU Collegiate World Baseball Championships in Messina, Italy, August 3-11.
For a complete boxscore and play-by-play of this game, log on to
