THUNDER BAY, Ontario – The U.S. Women’s National Team defeated defending World Cup champion Japan, 4-3, on the fifth day of the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Finals Thursday morning at Port Arthur Stadium. This victory marks Team USA’s fifth win in a row and puts a halt to Japan’s Women’s National Team’s 39-game win streak. The U.S. will once again face Japan, this time in the World Cup Finals Championship on Saturday, August 3rd.
In the most competitive game of the week for Team USA, the stars and stripes revealed their resiliency and ability to come through in clutch situations. Three of the United States’ runs came from one swing of the bat, as Jillian Albayati launched a two-out, three-run home run over the left field wall in the fourth inning to wipe the goose egg from Team USA’s run column. Selfless baseball and a timely balk allowed the red, white, and blue to score the go-ahead run in the eighth and set up Team USA’s closer to shut the door on Japan. Albayati, Kelsie Whitmore, and Remi Schaber each posted 1-for-3 performances with one run scored apiece.
Just as important as that three-run bomb, however, were the effective arms of Jamie Baum and Meggie Meidlinger. Like how the United States needed just two innings of offense, only two pitchers were needed to hold Japan to its fewest runs scored all week. Baum set the tone from the get-go, limiting Japan to only two hits and no runs through the first four frames. The bats of Japan started to find rhythm in the fifth, however, as back-to-back singles hinted at a shift in momentum. Despite scoring a pair and tying the game in the sixth, Japan’s ability to threaten was thwarted after the veteran Meidlinger got Team USA out of a jam. She continued to do so throughout the contest with clutch pitches.
Baum’s quality performance featured 5.2 innings pitched in which seven hits were scattered and three runs scored. Meidlinger’s outing shut down Japan and allowed the U.S. to take the lead in the eighth. She threw 2.1 innings of no-hit ball and struck out three, including a seven-pitch battle in which Meidlinger ultimately won with a strikeout to win the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Baum kept Japan’s bats quiet, allowing only two hits over the first four frames and giving the U.S. a chance to strike first.
- Whitmore reached base for the second time in the fourth inning and was followed up by a clutch, two-out hit by Schaber to put traffic on the base paths.
- Albayati did what she has been doing this whole tournament: Rake. Team USA’s left fielder smoked a 2-2 pitch high and deep over the left field wall for a go-ahead three-run home run to open the scoring.
- Japan cut into the deficit in the fifth after a base hit by Ayaka Deguchi scored Kae Iwami.
- Team USA’s lead was erased not long after, as a flurry of hits by Japan in the fifth allowed the score to be evened at 3-3 before Meidlinger took over on the mound and got the U.S. out of trouble.
- Despite a defensive miscue in the seventh, Meidlinger battled and got the three outs necessary to send the game into extra innings.
- With runners on base due to international tiebreaker rules, a sacrifice bunt by Valerie Perez followed by a free pass loaded the bases. A balk was called soon after, scoring Alana Martinez for the go-ahead run.
NOTABLES
- Saturday will be the fifth time the U.S. and Japan have played in a WBSC World Cup Championship (2004, 2006, 2012, 2014). The series is evenly split at two games apiece (2-2).
- This win by the U.S. ends Japan’s 39-game win streak dating back to the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup in 2012, when Team USA beat Japan in a 5-2 affair.
- The U.S. is now 8-8 all-time against Japan.
- The Women’s National Team last lost a game two years ago to this date, when the stars and stripes lost a Friendship Series match against Canada. Over this span, the team has strung together a 10-game win streak
- Team USA has allowed the fewest runs (8) and scored the most (44) among all teams.
- The U.S. has the most home runs (3) among all teams while three separate players (Albayati, Denae Benites, Alex Hugo) have contributed.
- Perez and Schaber are both riding four-game hit streaks heading into the gold medal game.
- Baum has seen the most action on the mound among all players, with 7.2 total innings pitched while Albayati is tied for first in RBIs (7).
QUOTABLE
- “Winning a game like this sets us up in a positive way heading into Saturday,” Women’s National Team Manager Veronica Alvarez said. “This is very much a team that battles together, supports each other, and lifts each other up.”
- “Meggie [Meidlinger] is a veteran who’s been on this team for a while,” Alvarez said about Meidlinger. “She’s faced Japan in a multitude of situations and is someone who we rely on because we have such confidence in her.”
- “We’ve prepared for this moment and situations where we play the best of the best,” Meidlinger said postgame. “We have full faith and trust in each other and always have each other’s backs. That’s one of the incredible things about this team, is that we battle to the end.”
ON DECK
The Women’s National Team will compete in a rematch with Japan, this time in a gold medal affair on August 3rd, at 3:00 p.m. ET. Live stats will be provided via WBSC, and the contest will be streamed on GameTime while highlights will be posted to YouTube.
SOCIAL MEDIA
To follow along with all the action with the Women’s National Team, be sure to follow @USABaseballWNT on Twitter and @USABaseball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.
