2004 World University Championship

The 2004 World University Championship was held from July 24 to August 1 in Tainan City, Taiwan. Only 7 teams competed as Cuba withdrew due to financial problems. Participating were Canada, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and the USA.

The USA went 8-0 to win the tournament. They were managed by Frank Cruz. Ryan Zimmerman won the tournament MVP. Other players were Luke Hochevar, John Mayberry, Jr., Chris Valaika, Taylor Teagarden, Daniel Bard, Travis Buck, Jeff Clement, J. Brent Cox, Trevor Crowe, Joey Devine, Alex Gordon, Brett Hayes, Stephen Kahn, Ian Kennedy, Jed Lowrie, Mike Pelfrey, Cesar Ramos, Mark Romanczuk, Ricky Romero, Drew Stubbs and Troy Tulowitzki.

In the Gold Medal game, the US topped Japan, 4-2, with Luke Hochevar beating Yasuhiro Ichiba.

Japan's roster included Yushi Aida, Yoshiyuki Kamei, Junichi Katayama, Shoitsu Omatsu, Yuichi Tabata and Shinichi Takeuchi in addition to Ichiba.

In the Bronze Medal game, Korea beat the host Taiwan, 3-1. Ying-Feng Tsai took the loss and two unearned runs on an outfield error did not help. Ki-pyo Kim got the win. Korea's roster included Seung-hwan Oh, Dae-woo Kim and Tae-wan Kim. Taiwan (managed by Jung-Tang Kang) had the services of Chen-Yu Chung, Hsien-Ming Yu, Chien-Yu Kuo, Yao-Hsun Yang, Tsai, Tai-Chi Kuo, Chiang-Ho Chen, Fu-Jen Shen and Che-Yi Su.

The Czech Republic finished 5th, Canada 6th and Mexico 7th. Canada had Matt McGraw on their team.

Source: FISU