Cal Baseball: Rodney Green Jr. Hits Grand Slam For USA Collegiate All-Stars vs. Japan

Cal rising junior Rodney Green Jr. introduced himself to the Japanese all-stars on Saturday, crushing a grand slam as the USA collegiate national team posted an 8-5 victory in Game 2 of their 44th Collegiate All-Star Championship Series in Cary, NC.

Green, who hit 20 home runs in his first two seasons at Cal, cleared the bases with a two-out blast in the top of the fourth inning as the USA squad scored five times to break open a scoreless game.

A native of Richmond in the East Bay, Green is batting .286 for the USA squad, which swept five games from Chinese Taipei before beginning its five-game series vs. Japan on Friday with a 5-2 defeat.

Green has seen action in five of the seven games, four as a starter. He is 4 for 14 with seven RBIs and has an on-base percentage of .412.

The teams resume their series on Sunday then play Tuesday and Wednesday to conclude the set.

Green was an all-Pac-12 outfielder for Cal this spring, batting .291 with 14 home runs. Invited to the USA collegiate tryouts, he made the squad after assembling a .588 on-base percentage in four intra-squad exhibition games.

*** Meanwhile, the annual MLB draft begins today at 4 p.m. PDT and will be aired on the MLB network with a pregame show at 3 p.m. The draft also will be shown on ESPN+.

The draft today consists of Round 1 (including one prospect promotion compensation pick), Competitive Balance Round A (10 picks), Round 2 and Competitive Balance Round B (six picks) and three second-round compensation picks.

The draft continues on Monday and Tuesday, making the third straight year it has been scheduled on All-Star weekend in the majors.

MLB.com published a list of its top 250 draft prospects, listing Cal right-handed pitcher Paulshawn Pasqualotto in the 248th spot. The 22-year-old Las Vegas native was 5-1 with a 4.03 earned run average this season, recording 51 strikeouts and 33 walks in 58 innings.

Cover photo of Rodney Green Jr. by USA Baseball

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo