BERKELEY – For the second summer in a row, Cal infielder Andrew Vaughn will don his country's colors in international competition as the reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year has been selected to play for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
 
After completing his freshman season in 2017, Vaughn was invited to try out for the Collegiate National Team. Not only did he make the team, he established himself as a regular for a squad that hosted series against Japan, Chinese Taipei and Cuba. Against Japan, he drove in the go-ahead run to help Team USA clinch the series win and was named series MVP after hitting .333 with two doubles and two RBIs.
 
Vaughn's work over the summer paved the way for the Santa Rosa, Calif. native to post even more impressive numbers over the first half of his sophomore season. Entering Cal's series against Washington State, he leads the nation in on-base percentage (.586), ranks second in home runs (15) and slugging percentage (.952) and checks in third in batting average (.442). He has earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors twice and has helped Cal to a 19-11 overall record.
 
That strong first half of the season also earned Vaughn a spot on the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list that was announced earlier in the week. He is one of 40 players still in the running for the title of top amateur baseball player in the country and semifinalists for the award will be announced on May 21.
 
The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team will participate in three international friendship series in 2018, beginning with the 18th USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series that will be held in North Carolina from June 28 – July 2.  The U.S. will then compete in the 42nd USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Series from July 3-9 in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina; and the 7th Annual USA vs. Cuba International Friendship Series in Cuba from July 13-18.  Seven Collegiate National Team games will be streamed live on USABaseball.com, as well as Facebook Live and YouTube. For more information on USA Baseball and the Collegiate National Team, follow @USABaseball on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter; and @USABaseballCNT on Twitter.