Arkansas Razorback pitcher Jaxon Wiggins will be playing for the USA Baseball National Collegiate Team in July.
Arkansas Razorback pitcher Jaxon Wiggins will be playing for the USA Baseball National Collegiate Team in July.
Wiggins and teammate Robert Moore are two of the 48 top nondraft eligible collegiate players in the nation to make the National Collegiate Team rosters.
USA Baseball unveiled the team rosters on its Twitter feed last Wednesday.
The 48-man team will be divided into two 24-man rosters — the Stars and the Stripes. The two teams will play 11 intrasquad games at various sites in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee in July.
Wiggins played basketball and baseball at Roland High School. He completed his freshman year with the Razorbacks in June when Arkansas lost in the super regionals of the NCAA baseball tournament. The Hogs finished the season with a 50-13 record. They won the Southeastern Conference regular season championship and SEC tournament championship.
Wiggins started four games for the Razorbacks in the 2021 season. He had a 3-1 record and a 5.09 earned run average. He made 17 appearances and also picked up four saves as a reliever. He pitched 23 innings and had 28 strikeouts. He walked 14 batters.
Moore finished the year with a .283 batting average. He led the Razorbacks with 16 homers. He was second on the team with 53 RBI.
USA Baseball announced its 2021 Collegiate National Team coaching staff last Wednesday.
Joining Elliot Avent (manager; North Carolina State) on staff are:
• Bobby Austin (Mississippi State)
• Dan Hartleb (Illinois)
• Kevin O’Sullivan (Florida)
• Kobe Phillips (North Carolina Central)
• Josh Pike (North Carolina State)
• Alex Sogard (Wright State)
• Troy Tulowitzki (Texas)
• Jerry Weinstein (Colorado Rockies)
O’Sullivan will serve as Team USA’s pitching coach. Pike will assist O’Sullivan.
Sogard will coach the Stars team. He will be assisted by Hartleb and Austin.
Weinstein will manage the Stripes. He will be assisted by Tulowitzki and Phillips.
“We are honored to welcome eight tremendous coaches to assist the Collegiate National Team this year,” USA Baseball General Manager of National Teams Eric Campbell said.
The Stars vs. Stripes contests kick off at 6 p.m. July 2 at the American Legion Field in Danville, Va. The 11-game series will wrap up July 15 at Bowen Field in Blueville, W.Va.