Plutko tabbed for Team USA

From UCLA:

DURHAM, N.C. – UCLA sophomore right-hander Adam Plutko has been named to the 2012 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Roster, as announced Tuesday afternoon by USA Baseball.

Plutko, a 6-foot-3 product from Upland, Calif., has gone 5-2 with a 2.98 ERA in a team-leading 63.1 innings for the Bruins this season.

“I am honored to be selected as one of the collegiate players who will represent the United States this summer,” Plutko said. “This has been one of my dreams for a long time, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”

He becomes the fifth UCLA selection to the Collegiate National Team in the last four years and the sixth selection under eighth-year head coach John Savage. Other recent selections from UCLA include Gerrit Cole (2009, 2010), Steve Rodriguez (2010), Trevor Bauer (2009) and Brandon Crawford (2006).

“Adam has been very consistent for us over his first year and a half at UCLA,” Savage said. “It’s great to see another one our players selected to compete for the United States on the Collegiate National Team. This is a well-deserved honor for Adam, and we’re confident that he will represent UCLA and Team USA at the highest level.”

The schedule for this summer’s team includes a five-game series against the Cuban National Team in Havana (July 5-9), as well as a trip to Haarlem, The Netherlands, for the Honkbal-Haarlem Baseball Week (July 14-22).

Cole and Rodriguez helped Team USA win the silver medal at the 2010 World University Baseball Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

The 2012 Collegiate National Team will be coached by Tennessee head coach Dave Serrano. The team’s assistant coaches include Jason Gill (head coach at Loyola Marymount), George Horton (head coach at Oregon) and Andy Stankiewicz (head coach at Grand Canyon).

USA Baseball selects its Collegiate National Team based on its professional teams’ selection model. The player pool is primarily comprised of non-draft-eligible college players. Trials are no longer utilized to select the team.

Other college players who have accepted selection to the 2012 Collegiate National Team include Kris Bryant (San Diego), Austin Cousino (Kentucky), Michael Lorenzen (Cal State Fullerton), Bobby Wahl (Mississippi) and Trevor Williams (Arizona State).