Team USA Baseball roster: Collegiate National Team players, conferences

The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team is ready to head to Japan for the 43rd annual Team USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star series to end a successful summer. The four-game series begins Wednesday, July, 17 and concludes Sunday, July 21.

Let's take a look at the roster that is loaded with some of college baseball's best and brightest stars for the 2020 season.

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Team USA: How the Collegiate National Team is selected

The Collegiate National Team is made up of non-draft-eligible college baseball players, with 23 of the 26 players on the 2019 roster rising juniors. Colton Cowser (Sam Houston State), Doug Nikhazy (Ole Miss), and Cole Wilcox (Georgia) are the three freshmen on the roster. The field staff and staff members for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team select the final roster after various tryouts, some numbers from the previous season, and even performance in the Cape Cod Baseball League, where Arizona State slugger Spencer Torkelson began his summer.

The Collegiate National Team coaching staff

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Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell continues his busy summer as skipper of the team. McDonnell, of course, led the Cardinals to the semifinals of the CWS less than a month ago. Much was made about his relationship with Mississippi State's Chris Lemonis, who both got their start at The Citadel before becoming foes in Omaha. McDonnell brings back that connection here as well, as Tony Skole — a former teammate of McDonnell and Lemonis and now head coach at The Citadel — joins him on the coaching staff. Mark Kingston (South Carolina) and Greg Moore (Saint Mary's) round out the NCAA baseball coaches on staff with Dave Turgeon of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Xan Barksdale as the bullpen coach.

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Breaking down the Collegiate National Team roster by conference and school

So, how does the roster break down? Probably to no surprise, it is SEC and ACC heavy, with 15 of the 26 players hailing from the two conferences. The Big 12, Big 10, and Pac-12 combined for six players. Here's a look at the breakdown.

• 9: SEC
• 6: ACC
• 2: Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12
• 1: AAC, C-USA, MVC, Southland, WCC

Several schools send multiple players to the Collegiate National Team roster. Arizona State (Spencer Torkelson, Alike Williams), Arkansas (Heston Kjerstad, Casey Opitz), Mississippi State (Tanner Allen, Justin Foscue, and national champion Vanderbilt (Tyler Brown, Austin Martin) all send two players apiece.

Here's the complete 26-man roster for the Collegiate National Team. Prior to the start of the Japan series, this roster will be cut down to 24.