Pinch hitter Amanda Freed singled in the bottom of the seventh to help the U.S. beat Australia 1-0 last night in the U.S. Cup at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. Americans move to 2-1
on Freed’s clutch single
Star-Bulletin StaffAustralia (1-3) pitcher Brooke Wilkins, who pitched for Hawaii in 1995, got ahead of Freed but let her single to left center on a 1-2 pitch with runners on first and second and two outs.
Wilkins pitched a complete game but took the loss, her third in the tournament. Lisa Fernandez pitched four scoreless innings in relief of Keira Goerl to get the win for the Americans (2-1), who play China today at 10 a.m.
China 5, Canada 0: Zhang Lixia limited Canada to one hit to help China to a 5-0 win in the sixth game of the U.S. Cup of Softball at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium yesterday.
Lixia allowed former Hawaii-Hilo star Kristy Odamura to reach on an infield hit to lead off the game, but held the Canadians hitless after that. She got the offensive support she needed on home runs by shortstop Wei Qiang and designated player Ye Kiahoe in the fourth inning.
Japan 6, China 0: Juri Maeda and Hiroko Sakai combined to shut out China while Noriko Yamaji was perfect at the plate.
Maeda started and went five innings before giving the ball to Sakai for the final two. Yamaji went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and Yuka Suzuki capped it with a pinch-hit, two-run single.
Japan 4, Australia 3: Mikiko Tanaka singled up the middle with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to score Kazue Ito to break a tie.
Ito and Tanaka joined catcher Noriko Yamaji with multiple-hit games. Sally McCreedy and Peta Edabone each drove in a run in the top of the seventh to tie it for the Australians.