2018 WBSC World Softball Championship

USA Softball Shuts Out Chinese Taipei At WBSC

USA Softball Shuts Out Chinese Taipei At WBSC

Keilani Ricketts deals a shutout for USA over Chinese Taipei at the World Softball Championship.

Aug 4, 2018 by Chez Sievers
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USA collected its second win of the tournament at the WBSC Softball World Championship and leads the Group A with a perfect record. Today they beat Chinese Taipei, 7-0, in five innings of play.

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USA’s middle infielders Delaney Spaulding and Ali Aguilar led the offensive for the American team posting 3 RBIs each. The shortstop went 2 for 3 with a double and a home run; while the second baseman went 1 for 2 with a double and a walk.

USA put on base the first two batters of the game, but couldn’t score any run. Haylie McCleney singled and Ali Aguilar followed with a walk. However Spaulding popped up with a bunt fly, and then starter Ya-Ting Tu escaped the jam with two groundouts to short.

Chinese Taipei also placed a runner on scoring position in its first attack. Meng-Ting Lai singled up the middle. One out later advanced with a sacrifice bunt, but then was stranded there on a grounder to end the inning.

In the top of the second USA built a big inning to take a 5-0 lead. Kirsti Merritt set the tone with a leadoff double to right field and then scored on an RBI single off the bat of Aubrey Munro. Jannette Reed and McCleney followed with consecutive walks to load the bases, and Ali Aguilar hit a double to center field to empty the bases. The second baseman scored with a double by Spaulding to right.

In the top of the fourth Spaulding stepped up with Reed on second and hit an opposite field home run to make it 7-0.

Southpaw starter Keilani Ricketts was in control of the game since the beginning. She completed the shutout allowing only 3 hits, with 4 strikeouts and no walks. The loss was charged to Ya-Ting Tu, who lasted 1.1 innings receiving 5 runs.


Up Next: USA vs Netherlands Aug. 4 at 8 PM (CT) & USA vs New Zealand at Aug. 5 at 4 AM (CT)