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July2015

Aussie pitching wreaks havoc on Team USA batters

July 2, 2015

Saskatoon, SK

 

July 2, 2015

Aussie pitching wreaks havoc on Team USA batters in 8-0 loss at WBSC Men's World Championship

Box Score

 

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Canada  - With the exception of a Kevin Castillo (Long Beach, Calif.) single, Team USA batters struggled to get their momentum going in an 8-0 loss at the hands of Australia at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men's World Championship.  Team USA was held hitless by the Australia's Adam Folkard until the top of the fifth inning when Castillo broke up a no-hitter with a single to left field.  With the loss, Team USA now moves to 3-3 in pool play action and currently sit in fifth place in their pool.     

 

Click here for full coverage from the WBSC Men's World Championship

 

"Australia is a tough opponent and they have a very strong pitching staff," said USA Head Coach Denny Bruckert (Gillespie, Ill.).  "Our offense never quite got a handle on Folkard and couldn't quite make the adjustments needed to stay in the game.  Regardless, I'm still proud of the way our team is playing.  We'll make some adjustments and look to finish up our final pool play game with a strong showing against Denmark." 

 

Australia's Folkard set the tone for the game in the top of the first with three-consecutive strikeouts to the top of the U.S. lineup.  Back-to-back singles put two runners on base for the Aussie's in the bottom of the first inning with no outs but U.S. starter Gerald Muizelaar (Grand Forks, N.D.) retired the next batter with a strikeout for the first out of the inning. Australia would plate a run on the next at-bat as a ground out to Chris Miljavic (Easton, Mo.) at second base would give the runner at third time to cross the plate.  Muizelaar then issued a walk to the next batter before a big strikeout ended the inning with Australia owning a 1-0 lead.

 

The U.S. would get their first base runners of the game in the top of the second inning as Derrick Zechman (Watsontown, Pa.) was hit by a pitch with two outs and was followed by a walk to Josh Johnson (El Paso, Texas).  Folkard quickly ended the U.S. rally before it could begin with a strikeout.

 

The Aussie's would add to their lead in the bottom of the second inning as Muizelaar surrendered a grand slam to Mark Harris.  A follow-up double and RBI single would prompt a pitching change for the U.S. as Tony Mancha (Las Cruces, N.M.) entered the circle in relief.  With two on and two outs, Mancha was able to get the next batter to hit into a double play to end the inning with Australia up 6-0.

 

Team USA was unable to return the favor as the lineup was retired in order in the top of the third inning with three infield groundouts.  Australia would add a seventh and final run in the bottom of the third inning to walk away with an 8-0 (five inning) win.

 

Muizelaar took the loss for the U.S., issuing six hits and four earned runs while getting two strikeouts through one and one-third innings.  Mancha would pitch the final two and two-third frames, notching four strikeouts while giving up two earned runs.  Australia's Folkhard picked up his fourth win of the WBSC Men's World Championship, retiring 10 U.S. batters with a strikeout. 

 

The USA Men are now 3-3 in the pool play portion of the tournament and will next face Denmark (1-5) this evening at 3 p.m. local time (4 p.m. CST) in their final pool play game of the tournament. At the completion of today's games the top four teams from each pool will be seeded into the playoff rounds with the remaining seven teams entering the placement rounds.  Fans at home can follow along with live stats and live streaming for the entire WBSC Men's World Championship at www.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/.

 

About the World Baseball Softball Confederation

Headquartered in the Olympic Capital city of Lausanne, Switzerland, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) was established in April 2013 and granted recognition as the sole competent authority in baseball and softball by the International Olympic Committee at the 125th IOC Session in September 2013. The WBSC represents a united baseball/softball sports movement that encompasses over 65 million athletes worldwide. The WBSC governs all international competitions involving any of the National Teams of its 141 National Federation members.  The WBSC oversees the Softball World Championships, The Premier 12, the World Baseball Classic, and the U12, U15, U18, U21 and Women's Baseball World Cups.  For further information, please go to www.WBSC.co or follow the WBSC on Twitter at @WBSC.

 

 

Codi Warren

 

Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications

Amateur Softball Association of America/USA Softball

Office 405.425.3431 | Cell 405. 420. 2817

 

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