PUR vs. TPE
Chinese Taipei Explodes for Nine in the Fifth to Beat Puerto Rico in Softball
Chinese Taipei exploded for nine runs in the fifth inning to defeat Puerto Rico, 10-2 in Olympic softball Thursday night in Columbus.
Rain caused a two-hour delay of the start of the game and rain fell throughout the contest. Puerto Rico got on the board first, scoring one run against starter TU Hui-Ping in the first inning. Lourdes BAEZ doubled to lead off the game and later scored on a passed ball charged to YANG Hui-Chun.
Chinese Taipei added another run in the second inning when Penelope ROSARIO crossed the plate after reliever TU Hui-Mei walked Clara VAZQUEZ with the bases loaded to up the Puerto Rico lead to 2-0.
WANG Ya-Fen hit a home run off starter Ivelisse ECHEVARRIA to cut the lead to 2-1. The run marked the first earned run scored against ECHEVARRIA in 14 innings of Olympic competition.
Trailing 2-1, Chinese Taipei came to bat in the fifth inning, nine runs, fourteen batters and three Puerto Rico pitchers later, the score was 10-2. The inning started with a walk to CHIEN Chen Ju and ended with a LEE Ming-Chieh flyout. In between the women from Chinese Taipei plated nine runs without collecting a single extra-base hit. The biggest blow of the inning was a two-run single by WANG Ya-Fen. Six other batters drove in runs in the frame.
TU H.M. picked up the win in relief for Chinese Taipei, working the final 5.1 innings and not surrendering a run. Both Puerto Rico runs were charged to the starter TU H.P. After two fine Olympic outings, ECHEVARRIA took the loss, allowing seven runs in four innings.
The win moves Chinese Taipei to 2-3. They will meet China (4-1), in the 21:00 game. Puerto Rico drops to 1-4 and takes them out of contention to advance to the semi-final round. Puerto Rico meets Japan at 9:00 in the first game of Olympic softball competition on Friday.
Final Score: TPE 10 - PUR 2
USA vs. CAN
Seventh Inning Rally Leads U.S. Past Canada, 4-2 in Softball
The win ups the United States' record to a perfect 5-0 and clinches a berth in semi-final round. Tomorrow they play against Australia (3-2), in the 11:30 game. Canada drops to 2-3, and will play against the Netherlands (0-5), at 18:30 on Friday. The United States posted two-runs in the ninth inning to lead them past Canada, 4-2 in a match-up of top teams in Olympic softball competition. 8,645 fans watched the exciting match up that last until nearly 2:00, Friday morning.
The United States opened the scoring in the fourth inning with an unearned run against Canadian starter Karen SNELLGROVE. The right-hander had retired the first nine batters she faced until Dorothy RICHARDSON singled sharply to rightfield. After being sacrificed to second on a Julie SMITH bunt, RICHARDSON was sent home when Carmelina VAIRO obstructed Lisa FERNANDEZ's attempt to advance after a throwing error by Alecia STEPHENSON.
SNELLGROVE was victimized by poor fielding in fifth inning with Michele SMITH reaching first on STEPHENSON's second error of the contest. Canada then botched two bunt plays, allowing the U.S. to load the bases. SNELLGROVE almost worked out of the inning, but with two outs J. SMITH stepped up for the United States and lined a single into left to score Gillian BOXX to up the lead to 2-0.
Canada struck back in the bottom of the fifth inning, notching two runs. With one out, Kara MCGAW singled off U.S. starter Michele GRANGER. MCGAW would later score on a triple to right-centerfield by Pauline MAURICE. One batter later, VAIRO blooped a single over the out-stretched glove of thirdbaseman FERNANDEZ to knot the score at 2-2.
Both SNELLGROVE and Christa Lee WILLIAMS held the opponent scoreless in the sixth inning. BOXX opened the top of the seventh with a double to leftfield. Leah O'BRIEN followed with a walk. Lori SIPPEL came in to relieve SNELLGROVE and got BERG to ground out, leaving runners on second and third for the fan-favorite RICHARDSON. On the second pitch, pinch runner DIONNA HARRIS scored on a passed ball charged to Carrie FLEMMER. RICHARDSON then blooped a double to left to score O'BRIEN to up the score to 4-2.
WILLIAMS worked a scoreless seventh to earn the win for the United States. Despite pitching brilliantly SNELLGROVE shouldered the loss for Canada.
Final Score: USA 4 - CAN 2
"I love this type of game," said WILLIAMS. "It was kind of a gut check. Tonight definitely proved we have plenty of gutts.
NED vs. CHN
China Powers by the Netherlands, 8-0
The People's Republic of China's 13-hit barrage, including two home runs, led them past the Netherlands, 8-0 in softball action Thursday morning at Golden Park in Columbus.
China started the scoring with a two-run home run in the second inning off the bat of LIU Xuqing. LIU's blast also plated YAN Fang, who had reached on a single. YAN collected three hits in the contest.
The Netherlands' starting pitcher, Sonja PANNEN, surrendered three more runs in the fourth inning. CHEN Hong opened the inning with a single and later scored. WEI Qiang and LEI Li added singles. WEI scored on a single to right field by ZHANG Chunfang and LEI scored on a throwing error by Netherlands' second baseman to make the score 5-0.
China added two more runs against reliever Jacqueline KNOL in the fifth inning. Following a leadoff double by WANG Ying, TAO Hua cleared the bases with a home run to left field. The Chinese tacked on one more run in the sixth inning on a RBI single by LIU to close the scoring.
The Chinese pitchers no-hit the Netherlands. HE Liping picked up the win for China, pitching four innings, surrendering only one baserunner. Luciene GEELS reached base after a dropped third strike. GEELS was one of only three Netherlands hitters to reach base in the contest. LIU Yaju pitched the final three frames to preserve the Chinese victory.
PANNEN suffered the loss for the Netherlands, allowing five runs on eight hits in four innings of work. The Chinese reached reliever KNOL for three runs in her two innings of work.
China improved to 4-1 and maintained a second-place tie with Japan in the round robin tournament. China meets Chinese Taipei (1-3), in the 21:00 game on Friday. The Netherlands drops to 0-5 and faces Canada (2-2), in a 18:30 match up tomorrow.
Final Score: CHN 8, NED 0
AUS vs. JPN
Australia Shocks Japan, 10-0
Australia scored 10 runs in the final three innings to shock Japan, 10-0 in Olympic softball action at Golden Park in Columbus.
Australia, entering the game with a disappointing 2-2 mark, showed the form that led experts to pick them among medal hopefuls. The Australians banged out 11 hits against two Japanese pitchers.
Sally MCDERMID and Natalie WARD led the hit parade with three and two hits, respectively. Both hit home runs in a six-run outburst in the seventh inning. WARD hit a solo shot to open the inning and MCDERMID closed the scoring with a three-run blast.
Through the first 4 1/2 innings, the game was a pitching duel between Melanie ROCHE (AUS) and Tomoko WATANABE (JPN). The Australians broke the deadlock by scoring four times in the fifth. The big blow against T. WATANABE was a three-run home run by Peta EDEBONE.
ROCHE shut out Japan on just four hits, striking out seven while walking one. T. WATANABE suffered the loss, pitching 4.1 innings. She surrendered four runs on five hits. Masako WATANABE appeared in relief and suffered the same fate as T. WATANABE, giving up six runs in 2.2 innings of work.
The win put Australia back into the medal hunt, improving to 3-2 and moving into a tie for third place with Japan. Australia returns to action on 26 July, in an 11:30 game against the pool play leader, the United States (4-0). Japan will meet Puerto Rico (1-3) in a 9:00 contest.
Final Score AUS 10, JPN 0.
"I think the other teams also will look at us differently after today," said Australian catcher Joyce LESTER. "So hopefully, when teams play us, they will know what we are capable of and we will have something over them now before we even walk onto the field."
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