DURHAM, N.C. – Duke right-hander Marcus Stroman and the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team will face the USA Baseball 18-U National Team in a two-game series as part of the Prospect Classic this weekend, July 1-2, at Durham Bulls Athletic Park and the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.

Stroman is entrenched as the Team USA closer and has been nothing short of dominant in his two-week stint with the national team. A 5-9, 185-pound right-hander with a fastball that sits in the mid-90’s, Stroman has struck out 12 of the 13 batters he has faced while logging two saves. Through his four innings as the end-game reliever, Stroman has allowed just one batter – a hit batsman – to reach base.

The Prospect Classic will pit two of USA Baseball’s top prospect squads against one another in a series that will be broadcast on a one-day delay by the MLB Network. Both of those teams annually roster the most talented amateur players in the country, as evidenced by the 13 players – including No. 1 overall MLB Draft pick Gerritt Cole –that played for those teams in 2010 and were selected on the first day of the 2011 MLB Draft.

The Prospect Classic serves as a precursor for the Collegiate National Team’s five-game series with the Japan Collegiate All-Stars on July 3-8. The first two games of that series will take place at Durham Bulls Athletic Park before the teams then move back to the USA Baseball Complex in Cary for game three and Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium on July 6. The finale will be played at the new TD Ameritrade Park, home of the College World Series, on July 8 in Omaha, Neb.

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