July2013

Freeman Grand Slam seals USA win over Japan in Canadian Open

July 18, 2013

Oklahoma City, OK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 17, 2013

 

Freeman Grand Slam seals USA win over Japan in Canadian Open

 

OKLAHOMA CITY – The USA Softball Women’s National Team returned to action on Wednesday night at the Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championships the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today. Team USA took the field to play Japan for the third time this summer having come up short in both previous matchups. The Americans used four runs in the first and two in the second to build a cushion that Japan could never overcome. In the end, an Amber Freeman (Lakewood, Calif.) grand slam spelled doom for the Japanese and helped Team USA move to 2-0 in the Canadian Open.

 

Four singles and two walks spotted Team USA a 4-0 advantage following the first inning Wednesday night. Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.), Raven Chavanne (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Lauren Gibson (Pasadena, Md.) and Amber Freeman (Lakewood, Calif.) all singled in their opening at-bats. An RBI fielder’s choice for Taylor Hoagland (Flower Mound, Texas) and a sacrifice fly from Lindsey Ziegenhirt (Elk Grove, Calif.) later in the inning also contributed to the early lead.

 

Japan responded in the top the second with a walk and two singles to score their first run of the game and later in the at-bat managed to load the bases but a Jessica Moore (Sutter, Calif.) strikeout ended any additional scoring threat.

 

The Americans added to their lead in the bottom of the second. Moultrie again singled to lead off the at-bat and two walks loaded the bases for Team USA before Freeman blasted her second RBI hit of the game giving Team USA a 5-1 lead. In the next at-bat, Hoagland grounded into a double play but it was enough to score Gibson from third making it USA 6, Japan 1 at the end of the second.

 

Both teams were held scoreless in the third but Japan got one run back in the fourth to push the score to USA 6, Japan 2. Following a Japanese pitching change, Gibson doubled but USA couldn’t get much else going and the score held through the fourth.

 

Moore returned to start the fifth inning but a quick single for Ono prompted a pitching change as Head Coach Ken Eriksen subbed Sara Nevins (Pinellas Park, Fla.) into the circle. Another single gave Japan runners in scoring position and a ground ball late in the at-bat brought the innings lead-off batter around to score making it USA 6, Japan 3.

 

The Americans again struggled from the plate in the bottom of the fifth but things turned around in the sixth. Following a Moultrie strikeout, Chavanne reached on a single. A Japan error in the next at-bat moved Chavanne to second giving Team USA two runners on base. Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.) walked to load the bases for Freeman. With her team leading by three, Freeman wasted no time sending the first pitch she saw deep over the fence for a walk-off grand slam that gave Team USA the 10-3 victory of Japan.

 

Moore gets the win for the Americans having pitched four innings and allowing just three runs on four hits. Freeman finished with six RBI and one run scored on a three-for-four night at the plate.

 

With the win, Team USA moves to 2-0 in the Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship. They will return at 5:30 p.m. CT on Thursday to take on Australia in their third game of the tournament. You can follow all of the action live by visiting www.USASoftball.com.

 

About ASA The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 76 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 200,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.   About USA Softball USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to 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 six World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/.

 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------  Steven Embree | ASA/USA Softball

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