Preliminary Round
AUS vs. TPE
HARDING, DIENELT Carry Australians in Softball:
Tanya HARDING provided the Australians with strong effort on the mound to help lead the way in Australia's 3-0 victory over Chinese Taipei. Teammate Kerry DIENELT, a four-time All-College World Series team member, provided the power at the plate.
HARDING relieved starter Jennifer HOLLIDAY in the second inning. The right-hander entered with two runners on base, but worked out of the jam. HARDING surrendered back-to-back singles to open the third, but pulled it together and never looked back, retiring the final 15 batters of the game. The blanking of Chinese Taipei marked the fourth shutout in the first five games.
DIENELT opened the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning, but later had to leave the game after being hit by a pitch. Sally MCDERMID added a two-run blast to up the score to 4-0 in favor of Australia, and catcher Joanne BROWN closed the scoring with a solo home run in the fourth inning.
HAN Hsin Lin suffered the loss for Chinese Taipei after working only two innings. HAN allowed two runs on three hits. She was relieved by CHIU Chen Ting and TU Hui-Mei. CHIU surrendered two home runs before giving way to TU.
Australia (1-1), returns to action tomorrow in a game against Puerto Rico (0-1) at 21:00 at Golden Park in Columbus. Chinese Taipei (0-2), lines up against the Netherlands (0-1), at 11:30.
Final Score: AUS 4, TPE 0.
Japan Notches Second Straight Shutout in Softball:
Tomoko WATANABE collected Japan's second straight shutout, defeating the People's Republic of China, 3-0, at Golden Park in second round softball action.
WATANABE held China to just six hits while striking out three. The right-hander was helped out by strong defensive play behind her. With two runners on in the fifth inning, Haruka SAITO, the Japanese shortstop, snared a line drive hit by YAN Fang to end the Chinese threat. Leftfielder Mayumi INOUE made another great catch to end a Chinese threat in the seventh inning. INOUE jumped up and snagged a deep drive by ZHANG Chunfang.
The starting pitchers dominated the game through the first five innings. WANG Lihong retired the first 11 Japanese batters she faced and didn't allow a run until the sixth inning. Until the three-run Japanese explosion, WANG had not allowed a run in 13.1 innings of work in the Olympic Games. The left-hander struck out 12 in her 5.2 innings of work against Japan, upping her Olympic Games total to 22 strikeouts in her two outings.
With one out and the bases loaded for Japan, catcher Noriko YAMAJI drove a single into left centerfield to score INOUE and Yoshiko FUJIMOTO. Shortstop SAITO singled to left to close the scoring at 3-0.
Final Score: JPN 3, CHN 0.
"Our winning depended on WATANABE and our defense. They did a great job, " said Japanese head coach Mitsuttoshi SUZUMURA. "Today was a once in a century game for us. We played very well."
PUR vs. CAN
Sixth Inning Rally Spurs Canadian Softball Victory:
After being locked into a scoreless deadlock for five and a half innings, Canada scored four runs to lead them to a 4-0 victory against Puerto Rico in Olympic softball competition at Golden Park, in Columbus.
Puerto Rico's Ivelisse ECHEVARRIA and Canada's Karen SNELGROVE matched each other pitch for pitch until the sixth inning. The Canadians then reached ECHEVARRIA for four runs. The inning opened with Kara MCGAW reaching on an error by second baseman Lourdes BAEZ. The poor throw allowed MCGAW to reach secondbase. After Pauline MAURICE popped up to the catcher, Colleen THORNBURN singled off ECHEVARRIA's leg. Christine PARRIS-WASHINGTON was walked to get to Karen DOELL. The Puerto Rican pitcher enticed DOELL to fly out to left. The Canadians then scored their first run when ECHEVARRIA walked Alecia STEPHENSON to force in the run. Candace MURRAY then broke the game open with a two-run single to centerfield. STEPHENSON later closed the scoring on a wild pitch by ECHEVARRIA.
Prior to the outburst, ECHEVARRIA had retired 15 of the 17 batters she faced. Only one Canadian had reached beyond firstbase. SNELGROVE was equally masterful, throwing six strong innings. The right-hander struck out nine of the first 12 batters. In all, SNELLGROVE allowed two hits while striking out 11. Debbie SONNENBERG came unto to pitch a scoreless seventh to earn a save.
The Canadian pitching staff has yet to allow an earned run. The shutout marks the sixth in the first seven games of the Olympic softball competition.
Tomorrow Canada (2-0), meets China (1-1), in the 9:00 game. Puerto Rico (0-2), meets Australia (1-1), in the final game of the third day of competition at 21:00
Final Score: CAN 4, PUR 0.
"I am happy with my performance," said SNELLGROVE. "It is a great effort to start with. Working out of the jam in the fifth was the key for me and the team."
Teenager Calms Down, United States' Bats Respond:
United States' teen-age pitcher Christa Lee WILLIAMS ran into some difficulty in the second inning against the Netherlands. With the bases loaded and one out, WILLIAMS proceeded to strike out the first two hitters in Netherland's lineup to work out of the jam.
WILLIAM's effort shifted the momentum toward the U.S. The United States scored five runs on six hits in the bottom of the second inning. The first run crossed the plate when Sheila CORNELL scored on Michele SMITH's single. Dionna HARRIS followed with a single that scored SMITH. Shelly STOKES reached on a walk before lead-off hitter Dorothy RICHARDSON blasted a three-run home run to build the lead to 5-0. The home run was RICHARDSON's second home run of the Olympic Games.
Netherlands' starter Jacqueline KNOL took the loss after only working 1.1 innings. She was responsible for all five runs scored in the second. Sonja PANNEN came on in relief for the Netherlands. After throwing a scoreless third inning, PANNEN surrendered a three-run home run to CORNELL to up the score to 8-0. The United States added another run in the fifth inning when HARRIS scored on a PANNEN wild pitch.
After the rough second inning, WILLIAMS settled down and retired the next 17 batters she faced. The youthful right-hander struckout nine, while allowing two hits to earn the win. WILLIAMS effort compliments Michele GRANGER's shutout effort yesterday. The United States' pitchers have yet to allow a run in two games.
The United States (2-0), meets Japan (2-0), in the 18:30 game, in a match-up of unbeatens. The Netherlands (0-2), match up with Chinese Taipei (0-2), in the 11:30 game of the third day of the Olympic softball competition.
Final Score: USA 9, NED 0.
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