Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State's Beau Mills Invited To Team USA Tryouts
5/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 23, 2005
Fresno, Calif. - USA Baseball has announced that Fresno State's Beau Mills has accepted an invitation to try out for the National Team at North Carolina State University on June 27-30. Mills is one of 36 players from across the nation invited to the tryouts.
Mills, a freshman from Visalia, Calif. has put together a spectacular first season at Fresno State. Playing third base and primarily batting cleanup for the Bulldogs, Mills is at the top of the WAC in many categories, and ranks among the nation's elite in power hitting.
Among national hitters, Mills is ranked 14th in home runs per game, and his 21 home runs are the most in the WAC, and stands third all-time among Fresno State batters in a single season. Mills is also second on the team in batting average, hitting .322 on the season, in addition to his team-leading 62 RBI. One of the leaders in many WAC categories, Mills' has the most RBI (62), home runs (21) multiple RBI games (18) and the highest slugging percentage (.702) in the conference. Mills also ranks second in runs scored (52), and is tied for fourth in triples (2) hit on the season.
Among Mills' highlights this season is a WAC Player of the Week selection for the week of March 14-20, when he hit .600 over four games against Iona College, including a 5-for-5 performance. Mills also came within one RBI of the school record on Feb. 27, when he knocked in eight runs, batting 4-for-6 and being just a home run short of the cycle. Those, among other accomplishments, led to Mills' selection for Baseball America's Midseason Freshman All-American Team.
The invitation to the National Team tryouts is the first for Fresno State since 1997, when both Jeff Weaver and Adam Pettyjohn were invited to the tryouts. Both players made the team that year. Weaver had also made the team in 1996, where he brought home a bronze medal from the Olympics.
The tryouts are scheduled for June 27-30. After the tryouts are held, Team USA head coach Steve Smith will narrow the team down to a 20-man roster. Mills will join one other WAC player, as Rice's Joe Savery has also been invited to the tryouts for this season.
