Ready at third base is Venezuela infielder Jineth Pimentel, who watched her team fall to 0-2 this morning with a loss to the host team.

SOLO NO-HITTER ON SECOND DAY OF PLAY AT OLYMPICS
2008-08-13

BEIJING, CHINA -- Two high scoring games were sandwiched around a pair that each had just three runs combined on Day 2 of the 2008 Olympic softball competition at Fengtai Softball Field.

Enduring the heat and humidity, the athletes put on offensive and defensive performances, including the fourth complete-game no-hitter in Olympic softball competition, and six home runs over the quartet of games. In a rematch of the 2004 Olympic softball gold medal game, Team USA's Cat Osterman blanked Australia today, 3-0, holding the green and gold without a hit over seven innings.

The following summary of the day's four games comes from the Olympic News Service...

Chinese first-baseman Yu Yanhong scored three runs as China defeated Venezuela 7-1 at Fengtai Softball Field on Wednesday.

Shortstop Li Chunxia's single in the first inning enabled Yu to sprint home from second base, scoring the game's first run. Yu scored from second base again two innings later, this time on a single to left field by designated player Xin Minhong.

Yu scored her third run of the day with a home run into the right field stands in the top of the sixth inning.

Starting pitcher Lu Wei was credited with the win. She gave up one run on six hits and struck out one batter before Yu Huili replaced her in the fourth inning.

China's third baseman Tan Ying, commenting on Yu's three runs, including one home run, said, "She is the oldest player in our team and she is very important. She gives us advice on how we should play the game."

A no-hit game by pitcher Cat Osterman and a two-run home run by designated player Crystl Bustos added up to a 3-0 victory for the United States over Australia.

The game remained a scoreless pitchers' duel between Osterman and Tanya Harding until the fifth inning. Natasha Watley broke the stalemate with a single that scored Lovieanne Jung from second base. Jung had stolen second after reaching first base safely with her own single.

One inning later, Bustos continued on her home-run-a-game pace, sending one of Harding's pitches into the right-field stands. The blast pushed Bustos' Olympic record of career home runs to ten.

Osterman struck out 13 batters during her seven innings of work. Six of those strikeouts came in the fifth and seventh innings, when she struck out every Australian batter she faced.

Osterman's complete game made it two no-hitters in a row for the United States. Jennie Finch and Monica Abbott also allowed no hits in Tuesday's 11-0 victory over Venezuela.

It was the second close loss in two days for Australia, who fell 4-3 to Japan on Tuesday.

Harding, who left the game following Bustos' home run, gave up four hits and struck out four batters in a losing effort.

In the evening, Japan edged Chinese Taipei in a game that lived up to exceptions, as the two nations chiseled out a 2-1 decision in favor of the 2004 bronze medalists.

Japan's left-fielder Satoko Mabuchi broke open a defensive gem with a solo home run leading off the top of the fourth inning. The winners added another run in the fifth, getting their tally on a single, sacrifice, sacrifice, and single.

That took care of the scoring until Chinese Taipei scrambled back in the bottom of the seventh and final inning, plating a single run on three single hits.

Hiroko Sakai claimed the complete-game win, matching six hits with six strikeouts without surrendering a base on balls. Lai Sheng-jung was stuck with the narrow loss, suffering two earned runs and seven hits in four and two thirds innings of work.

Team Canada continued their stalwart Olympic effort at the expense of an error-ridden club from the Netherlands. The game was halted by the "run-ahead rule" at the end of six innings with the Canadians in charge 9-2.

The winners sent seven batters to the plate in a three run third inning to open the scoring with three singles salted around an error by Dutch shortstop Sandra Gouverneur.

Canada continued the Games' power display with four more runs coming on a pair of two-run shots by designated player Kaleigh Rafter and left-fielder Melanie Matthews.

The Netherlands got on the Olympic scoreboard with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings but their efforts were answered in kind by the Canadians in the fifth and sixth.

Danielle Lawrie pitched four two-hit innings for the win, while Kristi de Vries was stuck with the loss, allowing three runs on three hits in three tough innings.

Mary-Ann Hatt the Netherlands assistant coach faced the reason why the Netherlands' fielding performance was below par, saying, "Sometimes we lose our ability to make judgments, because this is the Olympic Games, but I think we did well in the later innings."