CARROLLTON, Texas - The Women's National Team opened up training for the 2019 COPABE Women's Pan-American Championships with a 17-6 loss against the Texas Dirtbags on Monday at Hawk Field in Carrollton, Texas. Denae Benites (Las Vegas, Nev.) aided the effort, going 2-for-3 with one run scored.

Team USA earned four runs in the fifth inning to end the Dirtbags shutout. Sara Tobias (New York, N.Y.) started on the bump for Team USA, she allowed three runs on five hits in two innings pitched and took the loss. The rest of the pitching staff, including Ashton Lansdell (Marietta, Ga.), Jamie Mackay (Newport Beach, Calif.), Kelsie Whitmore (Temecula, Calif.), and Meggie Meidlinger (Sterling, Va.), combined for five strikeouts.  

The Dirtbags used a six run third inning and a five run sixth to propel them to victory. The Dirtbags' pitching staff put together nine strikeouts. 

Key Moments

• The Dirtbags opened the game with with one run scored in the first inning and two scored in the second before collecting six in the third inning to take a 9-0 lead over Team USA.
• Kate Blunt (Ladera, Calif.), who came in to run for Michelle Cobb (Wenatchee, Wash.) after she led off the fifth with a walk, moved around the bases on a pair of singles by Anna Kimbrell (Fort Mills, S.C) and Denae Benites (Las Vegas, Nev.) and scored on an error to break the Team USA scoring drought and make the score 9-1.
• Brittany Womack (Escondido, Calif.) pinch ran for Kimbrell in the fifth and scored on the error that pushed Blunt across the plate to put the score at 9-2.
• Amanda Gianelloni (Napolenonville, La.) reached base and advanced to second on the error that allowed Blunt and Womack to score. She was pushed across the plate along with Benites on an error to cut the deficit to 9-4 in the fifth.
• Baltzell led off the sixth inning with a triple to left field and scored on a pass ball, the Dirtbags still led the game 12-5.
• Blunt, who pinch ran for Brittany Schutte (Fountain Valley, Calif.) crossed the plate on a Gianelloni sac-fly to in the sixth inning for Team USA's final run, making the score 12-6.
• The Dirtbags scored five more runs in the bottom of the sixth. before the game came to an end with a final score of 17-6.

Notable Information

• Denae Benites led Team USA, going 2-for-3 with two singles and one run.
• Amanda Gianelloni collected three RBIs in the contest, allowing Blunt and Womack to score.

Up Next

• Game two of the Women's National Team Training will take place against the Texas Dirtbags on Tuesday, August 13, at 5:00 p.m. CT at Hawks Field in Carrollton, Texas.

Social Media

• Stay tuned to @USABaseballWNT on Twitter and visit USABaseball.com for the most up-to-date news about the Women's National Team Development Program.