Back-to-back homers by Natalie Titcume and Natalie Ward in the fifth inning propelled the Australian softball team to a 3-1 win over Taiwan yesterday.
Chinese Taipei Amateur Softball Association head Mo Cheng (牟澄) said afterwards the goal for Taiwan (1-3) would now just be to place among the top six teams.
Mo said the US, Japan, Canada and Australia (2-2) were likely to take the first four spots, but if Taiwan could beat the Netherlands and China, it could still place fifth, and if it wins only one of the matches, it would place sixth.
PHOTO: AP
Earlier yesterday the US scored four unearned runs in the sixth inning and beat Canada 8-1, running its Olympic winning streak to 18.
After beating Japan 7-0, the US resumed their suspended game with Canada from Thursday trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning.
The three-time defending gold medalists were five outs away from suffering their first loss since the 2000 Games, when Canadian shortstop Jennifer Salling made two errors. And pitcher Dione Meier hit a batter with the bases loaded to force in the tying run and threw a wild pitch to give the US a 2-1 lead.
Cat Osterman pitched four no-hit innings for the US (4-0), which added four insurance runs in the seventh. Jessica Mendoza hit a pair of two-run homers, Natasha Watley homered leading off the game and Crystl Bustos banged another one over the wall in the win over Japan.
In four games, the Americans have posted three shutouts; outscored the opposition 29-1; allowed just two hits in 24 innings and are far and away the class of the eight-team field.
In yesterday’s other games, Canada beat China 1-0, their first win in Olympic play over the host nation and one that all but assured Canada (3-1) a spot in next week’s medal round.
Lauren Bay Regula pitched out of a none-out, bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning when Canada survived a debatable interference call against shortstop Jennifer Salling on a rundown that put the Chinese in scoring position.
Venezuela (1-3) recorded its first Olympic softball win, 8-0 over the Netherlands (0-4) in a game called after five innings.
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