USA splits day two of the 2015 Japan Cup

August 8, 2015

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USA splits day two of the 2015 Japan Cup; earns spot in Gold Medal Game against Japan

OGAKI, Gifu, Japan  — Team USA dropped a 3-0 decision to host country Japan before rebounding for a 5-3 win over Chinese Taipei during day two of the 2015 Japan Cup the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today.  With the win over Chinese Taipei, Team USA earned the No. 2 seed in the playoff rounds and are set for a rematch against the No. 1 seed Japan at 2 p.m. JST (12 a.m. CST).

 

Click here for live stats, box scores and more from the Japan Cup

 

"It was a great team effort in tonight's win over Chinese Taipei," said Head Coach Ken Eriksen (Tampa, Fla.).  "They played an amazing game and we knew they were going to give us their best and they showed it.  I was very proud of our team to come back and retake the lead and our young team keeps getting better every game.  We have to play flawless softball tomorrow against Japan.  They're a great team with a lot of experience."

 

Game One: USA 0, Japan 3

Box Score

 

Japan jumped out to an early lead to take a 3-0 win over the U.S. in the Eagles first game of the day at the 2015 Japan Cup.  Despite a strong performance from USA's Ally Carda (Elk Grove, Calif.) in the circle, Team USA was unable to get the timely hits and suffered their first loss in the tournament.

 

Japan scored three runs through the first two innings to take the early 3-0 lead.  The U.S. got their first base runner of the game in the bottom of the second inning when Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) hit a two-out single, but Japan's Yamato Fujita recorded her second strikeout of the game to end the at-bat with Team USA unable to capitalize.

 

Carda entered the circle for the U.S. in the top of the third inning, handling the Japan offense with ease after issuing two strikeouts and a groundout to Kellie Fox (San Diego, Calif.) to bring Team USA back to the plate.  Fox led off the bottom half of the frame with a line drive single to left field and moved to second on a sac bunt from Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.).  A hard ground ball by Raven Chavanne (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) put Fox on third but the U.S. was kept off the board with a strikeout.

 

Team USA would get two base runners in the bottom of the fifth inning as Janelle Lindvall (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) was issued a leadoff walk, but Japan's defense pieced together a double play to quickly record two outs.  McCleney singled to center field to get another runner on base for the U.S. before Japan's third baseman went back to snag a fly ball from Chavanne for the third out of the inning.  The game would remain in Japan's favor through the remainder of the game.  With Team USA down to their last at-bat, a pair of ground outs and a hard hit line drive retired the U.S. in order with the Eagles suffering the 3-0 loss.

 

Carda did some work in the circle for the U.S., racking up six strikeouts while allowing just three hits through her five innings of work.  Jessica Moore (Sutter, Calif.) was charged with the loss, issuing four strikeouts with Japan tallying three runs in Moore's two innings pitched. 

 

Game Two: USA 5, Chinese Taipei 3

Box Score

 

The U.S. rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the bottom of the fifth inning as Team USA pulled out a 5-3 win over Chinese Taipei in their second game of the evening.  Combining for 10 hits in the contest, the U.S. utilized the long ball from Sierra Romero (Murrieta, Calif.), who connected for a two-run blast to give the U.S. the lead for the second time in the game.

 

Sam Fischer (Simi Valley, Calif.) plated the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning after lacing a ball to left field to bring around Amanda Chidester (Allen Park, Mich.), who had doubled with a fly ball to get on base.  That lead would hold until the top of the fourth inning when Chinese Taipei would score three runs to take a 3-1 lead.  Yang Yi Ting  singled and advanced to second on a fielding error to put the leadoff runner in scoring position before Lin Feng Chen doubled to right field to tie up the game at one run apiece.  A walk and a hit batter loaded the bases when Chinese Taipei dropped in a bunt to score the runner at third to take the lead.  A two-out walk with bases loaded added the third run of the inning for Chinese Taipei as they took the 3-1 lead.

 

That score would hold until the bottom of the fifth inning when the U.S. would retake the lead after piecing together three runs off three timely hits.  Janie Takeda (Placentia, Calif.) got things going for the U.S. offense with a single but was thrown out at second base on a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning.  Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.) stole second base to put a runner in scoring position for Team USA and used her speed to score on a single from Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.).  After McCleney's RBI single, Romero connected for the long ball to give Team USA the 4-3 lead.  The U.S. would tack on another run in the bottom of the sixth as Kellie Fox (San Diego, Calif.) picked up an RBI on a sac-fly to plate Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) who had singled earlier in the at-bat.  With the extra insurance run, Team USA walked away with the 5-3 win to earn the No. 2 seed in the playoffs at the Japan Cup.

 

Jessica Moore (Sutter, Calif.) picked up the win for Team USA, entering in relief in the middle of the fourth inning for starter Jaclyn Traina (Naples, Fla.).  Moore picked up three strikeouts through her three and two-thirds innings while Traina also collected three strikeouts with two hits allowed in three and one-third innings.

 

Live stats will be available for tomorrow's Gold Medal matchup against Japan and fans at home can follow along with recaps and more 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