TEAMS BEAR DOWN FOR FINAL ROUND ROBIN GAME AS JOCKEYING CONTINUES FOR POSITIONS AT THE TOP

(Above: Australia second baseman Leah Quackenbush gets a single to lead off the fourth inning Thursday afternoon against Canada)

The eight teams competing in the 1st World University Softball Championship got to do all work then some play today as the third day of games took place at the International Softball Federation’s (ISF) world headquarters complex in Plant City, Florida.

Four games were scheduled for 9 a.m. and four more at 12 Noon, with all teams getting the rest of the day off to tour the Florida Aquarium in downtown Tampa’s “Channelside” for their “cultural day.” The facility was opening its doors exclusively to the World University Softball Championship attendees after its normal closing time. The teams would also have a dinner there as well.

In one of the quartet of games that started off the day, Australia stayed in the thick of the race as they improved their won-lost record to 4-1 with a 1-0 win over China (2-3). Catcher Lauren Daykin, who is enrolled this Fall at nearby St. Pete College, singled home Stacey Ritter in the top of the fourth inning, and pitchers Jocelyn McCallum and Aimee Murch combined on a two-hit shutout.

Meanwhile, USA and their neighbors to the north were going head-to-head, each coming in with a 3-1 record. Vicky Galindo drove in Sarah Dean in the bottom of the second inning, followed by Heather Scaglione driving in Galindo for the game’s only runs as the U.S. won its third straight and stopped Canada’s winning streak at the same number of games. Winning pitcher Alicia Hollowell struck out the first seven batters of the game and finished with 17 strikeouts overall, holding Canada to just two hits.

Elsewhere, Japan needed just four-and-a-half innings to keep Guatemala (see photo below) winless with a 9-0 “run rule” decision. The winners scored three times in the first and third innings, once in the second, and twice in the fourth for their third straight shutout win.

And, Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands put on an offensive fireworks display in a shootout that saw Taipei outlast the Dutch, 14-7. The first inning alone featured a combined total of eleven runs, with the Netherlands holding a 6-5 lead that their opponent would erase with a run in the top of the second and two more in the top of the third for an 8-6 lead. The Netherlands cut it to a one-run game in the bottom of the fourth, and it stayed 8-7 until Taipei pulled away with three runs in the top of both the sixth and seventh innings. Li Chiu- Ching led the way for the winners offensively, going 3-for-5 at the plate, driving in three runs, and scoring one. For the Netherlands, Jolanda Kroesen went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.

In the day’s next round of games…

China and USA went through a defensive struggle for five-and-a-half innings before the U.S. broke through with three runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 3-0 win. Right fielder Sara Dean hit a one out, bases-loaded triple that scored Caitlin Benyi and Andrea Duran – who’d both singled – and Norrelle Dickson, who’d walked. Only a third inning double by Chinese left fielder Xi Feng Chen stood between U.S. pitcher Monica Abbott and a no-hitter.

In a game that would ensure that one team would get its first win of the tournament, the Netherlands – picking up where they left off from their seven- run performance in their first game of the day – kept the offense rolling with a 9-0 win over Guatemala that went five innings due to the “run ahead rule.” (By international softball rules, a game is considered complete if a team is winning by 20 runs after three innings, 15 after four, or seven after five.) After a scoreless first inning, Sandra Gouverneur led off the top of the second inning for the Netherlands with a triple and would score one of two runs for the Dutch that half-inning. She had an RBI single and scored another run in a three-run third inning that saw doubles from both Chantel Versluis and Jolanda Kroesen. The winners scored once in the fourth and capitalized on wild pitches in the fifth when they scored their final three runs.

The event saw its first extra innings game as Chinese Taipei – having won the head-to-head meeting with the U.S. – maintained the top seed in the tournament with a 2-1, eight inning victory over Japan that improved their record to 5-1. Japan had taken an early 1-0 lead, scoring in the top of the second inning. But, Chinese Taipei knotted the game with a RBI single from 2004 Olympic participant Chiu-Ching Li in the bottom of the third. She would be the offensive hero when she drove in her team’s other run with a single in the bottom of the eighth that gave her team its second win of the day.

And, Canada forced a tie for third place with Australia by defeating them 1-0, giving Canada the tiebreaker to place them as the third seed going into the last day of round robin play. Australia entered the game with a 4-1 record while Canada was 3-2. However, after five scoreless innings of play, Canada showed it would not be denied when pinch runner Erin McLean scored the game’s only run in the top of the sixth after Tamra Howren reached base with a one-out double. Howren was an alternate for her country’s 2004 Olympic softball team. Winning pitcher Katie Rosentreter threw a complete game, two-hit shutout.

*** Standings After Day 3 ***

Chinese Taipei, 5-1 (43 Runs For, 14 Runs Against)
USA, 5-1 (13 RF, 4 RA)
Canada, 4-2 (21 RF, 10 RA)
Australia, 4-2 (17 RF, 5 RA)
Japan, 3-3 (23 RF, 9 RA)
China, 2-4 (12 RF, 18 RA)
Netherlands, 1-5 (18 RF, 25 RA)
Guatemala, 0-6 (2 RF, 64 RA)

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