Oregon Ducks Starter Kenyon Yovan will spend part of his summer with the USA Baseball National Team.
It is the second straight summer that Yovan will play for USA Baseball. This past season, Yovan opened the season as the Oregon Ducks Closer before moving to the Starting Role. He wrapped the 2018 season without a postseason appearance but was a stable force when he played. Yovan finished the year at 6-4 with a 2.98 Earned Run Average.
Yovan also found success at the plate hitting .233 with three home runs and 12 Runs Batted In. Entering the 2019 season, Yovan is expected to be a key contributor to the Oregon Rotation and will likely land the spot as the Friday Starter, where he ended the season for Oregon in 2018.
The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team will open play with three friendly series according to GoDucks.com, starting with Chinese Taipei International. Following the game, USA Baseball will announce a final 24 member squad for two more series including the USA vs Japan Collegiate All Star Series(July 3-9) and the USA vs Cuba International Friendship Series(July 13-18) in Cuba.
Last year, Yovan was a part of the team that faced Chinese Taipei. The International Experience alone will be key for the second straight season for the Oregon Sophomore two-way player. Yovan joins nine former Oregon Ducks to be a part of the USA National Team since the program’s return in 2009. David Peterson and Travis Monoit were also teammates for USA Baseball back in 2016.
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The Oregon Ducks are coming off a second straight season where inconsistency and defensive errors led to losses. Experience was gained at key positions leading to what should be a more improved team in 2019. Oregon lost one Pac-12 series at home all season in the season series finale against Arizona.