USA Women drop extra-inning 4-2 decision to Canada to earn silver at Toronto 2015 Pan American Games

July 26, 2015

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USA Women drop extra-inning 4-2 decision to Canada to earn silver at Toronto 2015 Pan American Games

(Photo: courtesy ASA/USA Softball)

TORONTO, Ontario, Canada  — The USA Softball Women’s National Team suffered their sole loss of the Pan American Games in a 4-2 extra-inning decision against host country Canada to earn a silver medal finish at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.  With the game scoreless through regulation play, the game entered into the international tiebreaker (ITB) rule as Canada punched in four runs in the top of the eighth.  The U.S. would plate two of their own in the bottom half of the frame but were unable to overcome the deficit as Canada went on to win the Gold.

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"It's tough to coach against good fortune," said Head Coach Ken Eriksen (Tampa, Fla.).  "We hit the ball really well today, just couldn't catch any breaks.  When you hit the ball right at them, it's hard to make things happen.  Unfortunate things happened for us while fortunate things happened for them."

 

It was a pitcher's duel through the majority of the game as USA's starter Sara Nevins (Pinellas Park, Fla.) retired Canada in order to start the game while Canada's Sara Groenewegen returned the favor in the bottom half of the frame.  The first runner of the game would get on in the bottom of the second inning as Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) hit a two-out single but was thrown out in an attempt to leg it out into a double. 

 

The U.S. would get a leadoff runner on in the bottom of the third as Janelle Lindvall (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) hit a hard ground ball that sneaked by the third baseman but a pair of fly outs and stolen base attempt kept the U.S. from dealing any damage to keep the game scoreless through three complete innings.  Canada would get their first base runner in the top of the fourth inning on a two-out single by Kaleigh Rafter, but a fly ball to Moultrie in left field kept the runner from advancing. 

 

Two runners would get on base for Team USA in the bottom of the fourth inning as Raven Chavanne (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) reached on a bunt and advanced to second base on a line drive by Lauren Gibson (Pasadena, Md.).  With two on and one out, a hard hit fly ball to centerfield recorded the second out before Sierra Romero (Murrieta, Calif.) roped a line drive that the first baseman leaped up to snag for out number three.  The U.S. would get another two on base in the bottom of the sixth as Chavanne reached on an error by the shortstop and a two-out walk to Gibson, but another deep fly ball from Arioto kept the game scoreless heading into the final inning.

 

Both sides would get runners on base in the seventh inning but failed to plate any runs to push the game into extra-innings.  With the ITB rule in effect, Canada started the top of the eighth with a runner on second base.  The first batter would reach on an error by the defense to put two on with no outs before a ground out to Romero at third advanced the runners a base.  An intentional walk loaded the bases before Canada pushed across the first runs of the game with a hard hit two-run single from Joey Lye.  With runners on second and third, an intentional walk to Rafter loaded the bases for the second time in the inning with one out.  A sac-fly pushed across another run for Canada before a two-out single plated the final run for Canada to give them the 4-0 lead.

 

Down by four runs, Team USA started with Kellie Fox (San Diego, Calif.) on second base per the ITB rule.  A walk to Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.) put two on with no outs before Chavanne dropped in a fly ball single to left field to plate Fox to close the lead to 4-1.  Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.) advanced the runners with  grounder to the third baseman before Gibson collected an RBI on a ground out to second base.  With two outs and a runner on third, a walk to Arioto put runners on the corner, but a strikeout drew the game to a close with Canada earning their second Pan American Games Gold.

 

"It's disappointing but our team was in it all the way until the end and that's all you can ask for," said Moultrie.  "We didn't give up and we were still in the game.  We're disappointed, but still very proud of our team.  We're still building and in years to come this will be a good learning experience for us."

 

Three U.S. pitchers saw time in the circle today with Nevins compiling five strikeouts while allowing just three hits through four and two-third innings pitched.  Jessica Moore (Sutter, Calif.) entered in relief in the middle of the fourth, recording two strikeouts through one and one-third innings pitched.  Jaclyn Traina (Naples, Fla.) suffered the loss, issuing one strikeout through two innings of work.

 

Team USA will take a break before returning to action at the Japan Cup in Ogaki City, Japan August 7-9.  Fans at home can follow along with Team USA all summer long at ASAUSASoftball.com.

 

About ASA/USA Softball

Founded in 1933, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball is the National Governing Body Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, ASA/USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 74 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.5 million.  ASA/USA is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine World Championship titles as well as claimed eight World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about ASA/USA Softball, please visit http://www.asausasoftball.com/.

 

 

Codi Warren

 

Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications

Amateur Softball Association of America/USA Softball

Office 405.425.3431 | Cell 405. 420. 2817