Ole Miss’ Parker Caracci named to USA Baseball Collegiate National Team

Published 12:20 pm Monday, June 11, 2018

Parker Caracci’s breakout season has earned him the chance to compete for his country.

Caracci on Monday was named to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, becoming the ninth Ole Miss player to ever claim a spot on the Team USA roster. The Rebels’ reliever is the 11th Ole Miss player or coach to play for his national team while associated with the university.

In his first season on Ole Miss’ active roster, Caracci emerged as the primary arm on the back end of the Rebels’ bullpen, finishing with 10 of Ole Miss’ program-record 21 saves. The hard-throwing right-hander posted a 2.25 earned run average in 48 innings with 73 strikeouts and 14 walks.

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Most of Caracci’s work came in multiple innings of high-leverage situations. The Jackson native recorded more than three outs in 16 of his 27 appearances while eight of his saves came with the tying run on base. Seven of them came against ranked opponents.

A third-year sophomore, Caracci was taken by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 37th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft but announced last week he’d be returning to Ole Miss for his junior season.

Other Ole Miss players that have played for the collegiate national team include Drew Pomeranz, Zack Cozart, Lance Lynn, Bobby Wahl and Dallas Woolfolk. Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco served as the pitching coach in 2013.