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Aug. 6, 2004
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – University of Virginia baseball player Ryan Zimmerman (Virginia Beach, Va./Kellam) and the 2004 USA Baseball National Team came from behind to defeat Japan 4-2 to win the gold medal in the FISU II World University Baseball Championship game at Tainan Stadium in Tainan, Taiwan. The victory capped a perfect 8-0 run through the seven-team tournament, as Team USA ended the summer season with a record of 18-7 overall, including winning 12 of the last 14 games.
Japan had previously swept Team USA during the five-game USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star series in early July, but the Americans had the last word winning twice against Japan, including the decisive gold medal contest.
Zimmerman had an outstanding summer with Team USA. He started 18 of the 24 games he appeared in and led Team USA in batting average (468), hits (36), RBI (27), runs (25), doubles (12), home runs (4), slugging percentage (.805) and total bases (62). He was also successful on 3-of-4 stolen base attempts and posted a .933 fielding percentage.
Zimmerman finished the summer with the National Team single-season record for batting average at .468 (36-for-77) and hit .375 (9-for-24) with four doubles and a home run to earn tournament MVP honors in the FISU II World University Games. Zimmerman ended up winning the team Triple Crown by batting .468 with four home runs and 27 RBI.
— UVa —