San Diegan Nick Allen homered as the U.S. defeated South Korea, 4-2, Saturday in Olympic baseball.
The victory assured the Americans a berth in the medal round.
Allen hit a solo homer with two outs in the fifth inning to give the U.S. a 3-1 lead.
Allen graduated from Francis Parker School in 2017, before the Oakland Athletics selected him in the third round of that year’s MLB draft.
MLB Pipeline, a Major League Baseball-affiliated website that covers major league prospects, ranks him as Oakland’s third-best prospect.
The shortstop plays for Oakland’s AA-affiliate in Midland, Texas.
In addition to Allen, Carlsbad native Eric Filia plays for the U.S., as well as a former Padre, pitcher Edwin Jackson.
Jackson struck out two in Saturday’s win. The Americans tied a U.S. Olympic record, set in 1992, with 14 strikeouts. Filia went hitless against South Korea.
With the Olympics taking place during baseball season, players on 40-man rosters could not play in the Olympics, but minor leaguers could.
The U.S. (2-0) will face Japan (2-0) at 3 a.m. Monday, with the winner advancing to the semifinals and the loser playing in an elimination game Tuesday.
Watch the live stream at NBCOlympics.com.
City News Service contributed to this report.