USA Softball: Men’s National Team offense erupts to go 2-0 on Day 2 of the FPS tournament

May 3, 2019

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Men’s National Team offense erupts to go 2-0 on Day 2 of the FPS tournament

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 3, 2019 Web Release: Link

Cancun, Mexico – The Men’s National Team came out firing on the second day of the FPS tournament, claiming back-to-back shutout wins over Senogrev and MXL, USA Softball announced. The U.S. improves to 3-1 in the tournament and awaits the results of evening games to determine the final bracket.   Click here for live stats from the FPS tournament   Game 1: Team USA 14, Senogrev 0   The U.S. got on the board early and plated two runs in the first inning. With one out, back-to-back walks were issued to Jenner Christiansen (Hayward, Calif.) and Erick Ochoa (Imperial, Calif.) who both advanced on a passed ball. Tyler Bouley (Champlin, Minn.) then singled to plate Christiansen before a groundout allowed Ochoa to score from third. A flyout brought up the bottom half of the inning, but starter Duane Weiler (Richland, Wash.) and the U.S. defense quickly retired Senogrev to return to the plate.   The Red, White and Blue extended their lead with an explosive eight-run second inning. Marcus Tan (Union City, Calif.) blasted one past the center field fence with one out. Yusef Davis (Long Beach, Calif.) and Gil Saenz (El Paso, Texas) drew walks before crossing home on a double from Christiansen. Advancing to third on the throw home, Christiansen also made it home after Ochoa hit a single up the middle. A walk to Bouley put two runners on base and one out later, Jeff Nowaczyk (Midland, Mich.) homered to make it 9-0. Nick Mullins (Toms River, N.J.) then launched the third home run of the inning to give the U.S. a double-digit lead.   A groundout and pair of strikeouts from Weiler closed out the second inning, sending Team USA back to the plate.   Davis took first on a hit-by-pitch and made it home one out later thanks to a two-run shot by Christiansen. Two straight walks to Ochoa and Bouley and a single from Matt Ratliff (American Fork, Utah) loaded the bases for the U.S. A single from Nowaczyk plated Ochoa, while a walk to Mullins brought home Bouley to extend the lead, 14-0.    That was all the U.S. needed to secure the 14-0 (four inning) shutout victory as they kept Senogrev from scoring through the third and fourth innings. Pitching a perfect game, Weiler struck out six and didn’t surrender a single run through four innings of work. Christiansen was a perfect 3-for-3, while both he and Nowaczyk collected four RBI apiece.   Game 2: Team USA 9, MXL 0   Keeping the momentum for their second game of the day was the Red, White and Blue who maintained power at the plate and strong defense behind the arm of Tony Mancha (Las Cruces, N.M.).   MXL hit a one-out double in the first inning but that turned out to be their single hit of the game as Mancha struck out the next two to bring up the U.S. offense. Tan hit a leadoff triple and was brought home after Cam Schiller’s (Prescott, Ariz.) two-run home run made it 2-0.   Singles from Mullins and Bouley led off the second inning and after a fielding error by MXL, Mullins took advantage and plated the third run for the U.S. A single from Tan scored Bouley from third and proceeded to steal second and advance to third on an error. With a new pitcher in the circle for MXL, Ratliff drew a walk prior to Schiller going yard for his fourth two-run shot of the tournament. Another out later, Ochoa sent one deep past left field to make it 8-0 in favor of the U.S.    Bouley doubled and Christiansen singled with one out in the bottom half of the third inning, while Tan singled to plate what would be the final run of the game and put the U.S. ahead, 9-0.   Mancha earned the win, tossing four innings and allowing one hit and zero runs while striking out a total of seven batters. Tan was 3-for-3, while both Schiller and Bouley were 2-for-2 on the day. Tan and Schiller compiled six of the team’s eight RBI to help lead the U.S. to victory.   Team USA awaits results of this evening’s games to determine play tomorrow.    Following the FPS Cancun tournament, the U.S. will compete alongside reigning world champions and No. 1 ranked New Zealand in the Jack Grafmeier Memorial Fastpitch Tournament in Kimberly, Wis. May 31-June 2. The team will break briefly before meeting up in Stevens, Pa. for exhibition games June 8-9 prior to the WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship in Prague, Czech Republic June 13-23.     Fans at home can follow along all summer long with the USA Softball National Teams at USASoftball.com.   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.  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 six USA Softball National Teams 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.

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