San Diegan Homers In U.S. Olympic Baseball Team's Victory

SAN DIEGO, CA — San Diegan Nick Allen homered as the United States defeated South Korea, 4-2, Saturday, assuring the Americans a berth in the medal round in the Olympic baseball tournament.

Allen hit a solo homer with two outs in the fifth inning to give the U.S. a 3-1 lead at Yokohama Baseball Stadium.

Allen graduated from Francis Parker School in 2017 and was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the third round of that year's MLB draft. Allen is the third-best prospect in the Oakland organization according to rankings complied by MLB Pipeline, a Major League Baseball-affiliated website that covers major league prospects.

The shortstop has advanced to Oakland's Double-A affiliate in Midland, Texas.

With the Olympics taking place during the Major League Baseball season, players on 40-man rosters were not allowed to play in the Olympics, but minor leaguers not on 40-man rosters were.

The U.S. (2-0) will next play at 3 a.m. Monday, Pacific Daylight Time, facing Japan (2-0) with the winner advancing to the semifinals and the loser playing in an elimination game Tuesday. The U.S.-Japan game will be streamed at stream.nbcolympics.com/baseball-knockout-stage-game-4.

— City News Service