With the National Governing Body of the sport, USA Baseball, headquartered in the Triangle, combined with the high level of collegiate play in the area, Baseball is a natural to include as an Optional Sport in the Games. Baseball has been staged as an Optional Sport of the Summer World University Games on four different occasions, beginning with the first and only Summer Games in the United States to date, the 1993 Games in Buffalo, New York. At the Buffalo Games, NC State University’s Baseball Coach, Ray Tanner, coached the U.S. Men’s Baseball team. That team included three players from NC State – Andy Barkett, Pat Clougherty, and Terry Harvey – and one from Wake Forest University, Bret Wagner. Two years later at the 1995 Summer World University Games in Fukuoka, Japan, Baseball was again included in the Games as an Optional Sport. It was not until 20 years later that Baseball reappeared in the Games, this time at the 2015 Summer Games in Gwangju, South Korea. The sport’s most recent inclusion in the Games came two years later, at the 2017 World University Games in Taipei, Taiwan. Because Baseball has only been in the Games a few times, the medal table thus far is quite limited. Baseball-obsessed Japan leads the medal count, followed by Cuba. The United States has only won one medal in Summer World University Games Baseball competition, a silver in the Taiwan, Taipei, Games in 2017.