FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2, 2018

Team USA claims back-to-back shutout wins over No. 4 Australia and No. 5 Chinese Taipei at 2018 Japan Cup

Takasaki City, Japan — In their first two games of the 2018 Japan Cup, the USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT) claimed back-to-back shutout wins over No. 4 Australia and No. 5 Chinese Taipei, USA Softball announced today. The WNT defeated Chinese Taipei 10-0 (four innings), as the pitching duo of Danielle O’Toole (Upland, Calif.) and Jessica Moore (Sutter, Calif.) combined to throw a no-hitter, while Monica Abbott (Salinas, Calif.) delivered 13 strikeouts to shutout Australia for an 8-0 (six innings) victory.

Game One: USA 10, Chinese Taipei 0 (four innings)
Click here for box score<https://gc.com/game-5b8ed2d7ab587d002139d10a/stats>

Ali Aguilar (Orangevale, Calif.) and Hannah Flippen (San Diego, Calif.) had multi-hit performances and led the team with four RBI apiece as the U.S. took game one at the Japan Cup against No. 5 Chinese Taipei by a score of 10-0 (four innings).

Janie Reed (Placentia, Calif.) led off the first inning with a double to centerfield and a walk to Kelly Kretschman (Indian Harbour, Fla.) put two on for the U.S. The next at-bat, the Red, White and Blue scored first on a RBI single from Aguilar and then a walk to Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.) loaded the bases. A line drive to left field from Flippen plated Kretschman before Delaney Spaulding (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) added to the U.S. lead with a sac fly to centerfield brought Aguilar home, making it 3-0.

Chinese Taipei had their sole base runner of the game reach first on a walk in the top of the second inning but three-straight strikeouts from O'Toole sent the U.S. offense back to the plate.

With one out in the bottom of the first, Reed took first on a hit by pitch and stole second before advancing to third on a groundout. A hard hit ball up the middle from Aguilar plated Reed before a single from Arioto put two on for Team USA. A three-run home run from Flippen cleared the bases to give the U.S. a 7-0 lead. Before the inning's end, Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) reached first on an error, stole second and scored after an infield error by Chinese Taipei.

Another three-up, three-down inning kept Chinese Taipei scoreless in the top of the third, while Team USA added to their lead in the bottom of the frame. With two outs, Reed and Kretschman reached on back-to-back walks before Aguilar tripled on a line drive to left field to make it 10-0 and ultimately seal the 10-0 victory for the U.S.

O'Toole earned the win for the Red, White and Blue, fanning five batters in three innings of work while Moore pitched the final inning for the U.S. and collected one strikeout to lock up the game. Both pitchers held Chinese Taipei hitless, the fifth no-hitter of the summer for Team USA.

Game One: USA 8, Australia 0 (six innings)
Click here for box score<https://gc.com/game-5b8ed2f3ab587d002139d112/stats>

Team USA claimed another shutout victory over No. 4 Australia in their second game of the day at the Japan Cup. Aguilar, Arioto, and Flippen picked up two RBI apiece, while Abbott earned the win for the Red, White and Blue.

A one out walk to Spaulding in the bottom of the second inning started the first U.S. scoring rally. Two batters later, a pop fly from Reed was mishandled to score Spaulding, while a RBI double from Kirsti Merritt (Lake Pansoffkee, Fla.) put the home team on top, 2-0. With two outs on a 3-2 count, Aguilar delivered for her team and blasted a two-run shot to right field to give the U.S. a 4-0 advantage after two innings.

Abbott kept the Australian offense off the base paths through their next two at-bats while Flippen continued her hot streak in the bottom half of the fourth inning, hitting a line drive to centerfield to plate both Merritt and Aguilar and make it 6-0.

That score stood until the bottom of the sixth inning when Arioto delivered a walk off, two-run home run to seal the 8-0, run-rule victory. Abbott earned the “W” after fanning 13 batters and allowing just three hits in her six innings of work.

The U.S. will close out round robin play against host country Japan on November 3 at 10 a.m. JST (November 2, 8 p.m. CT). On November 4, the teams with the third and fourth best records will play in the Bronze Medal game at 1 p.m. JST (November 3, 11 p.m. CT) while the Gold Medal Game between the No. 1 and No. 2 seed will take place at 4 p.m. JST (2 a.m. CT).

Click here for live stats and a game schedule for the 2018 Japan Cup<https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Softball/Events/2018/November/02/Japan-Cup>

About USA Softball
USA Softball is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USA Softball sanctions competition through a network of Local Associations, which includes all 50 states and select metro associations, and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 150,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2 million. USA Softball is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch. USA Softball annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships. The USA Softball umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best-trained umpires in the game.

As the NGB for the sport of softball, USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the USA Softball National Team programs that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USA Softball, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit, www.USASoftball.com<https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Softball>.

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