Okey Named to USA Baseball Collegiate National Team

SOUTH BEND, IND. – Freshman catcher Chris Okey (Mount Dora, Fla.) has accepted an invitation from USA Baseball to play for the 2014 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team this summer. Okey is the first Tiger to play for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team since Brad Miller in 2009 and 2010.

In 2014, his freshman season at Clemson, he leads the team in RBIs (40) along with totaling four homers and nine doubles. He could become the first Tiger freshman to lead or tie for the team lead in RBIs since 2000, when future Major Leaguer Jeff Baker tied sophomore Khalil Greene with 64 RBIs. Okey also has a team-high 12 multiple-RBI games and is hitting .286 with three doubles, three homers and a team-high 21 RBIs in ACC games.

During two of his summers after his prep seasons at Eustis High School, Okey played on the USA 18U National Team for two gold-medal-winning squads.

The Collegiate National Team plays games against Chinese Taipei and Japan on U.S. soil while also making trips to The Netherlands for the Honkbal – Haarlem Baseball Week (July 11-20) and Havana, Cuba for the Friendship Series against Cuba (July 23-27). The Collegiate National Team begins play June 21 in various cities across the United States.

The 2014 Collegiate National Team is directed by Arkansas Head Coach Dave Van Horn. The team’s assistant coaches are Texas A&M Head Coach Rob Childress, New Mexico Head Coach Ray Birmingham and Pepperdine Head Coach Steve Rodriguez.