The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Hoagland, USA Softball down Japan and fall to Canada
07.24.2011 | Softball
July 24, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Texas rising junior Taylor Hoagland went 3-for-5, drew a pair of walks and stole two bases in two starts on Saturday as Team USA scored seven of its eight runs with two outs and downed Japan 8-4 at the World Cup of Softball at the ASA Hall of Fame Complex. The U.S. fell earlier in the day, 4-3, to Canada in a heart breaker that saw a comeback in the seventh fall short.
Against Japan, Team USA jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first inning. Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) led off the game with a double to left center and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Rhea Taylor (Buford, Ga.). Moultrie then scored on a second straight sacrifice bunt by Stacy May-Johnson (Reno, Nev.) Kaitlin Cochran (Yorba Linda, Calif.) tripled for the second hit of the inning but was stranded to end the frame.
Japan evened the score in the bottom of the first when Eri Yamada led off with a walk. Yamada advanced to third on back-to-back groundouts before scoring on a wild pitch. Team Japan took the lead in the second when Yuki Hayashi reached second on a dropped fly ball and came around to score on a pair of groundouts. The unearned run pushed the Japanese ahead 2-1.
The Americans regained the lead in the top of the fifth thanks to a ground-rule double from Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.). R. Taylor reached on a fielder's choice and stole second before tying the game on a single through the right side by Cochran. Valerie Arioto's ground-rule double plated May-Johnson who had reached on a walk as Team USA took a 3-2 lead through five.
Team USA exploded for five runs in the top of the sixth inning. Highlighted by a grand slam from Arioto, the Americans plated all five runs with two outs. Moultrie reached on a fielder's choice and R. Taylor followed with a single before Cochran's walk loaded the bases with two outs. Brittany Schutte (Fountain Valley, Calif.) was then hit by a pitch to score Moultrie and Arioto lifted a fly ball deep to left center to clear the bases and put Team USA ahead 8-2.
"We're getting runners on so that is the least of our problems. We've gotta get those clutch hits," Arioto said. "Tonight we had a lot of energy and a lot of fun so it was a good game for us."
The Japanese got two of those runs back in the bottom of the sixth off Chelsea Thomas (Pleasantville, Iowa) as Yu Yamamoto walked and Hayashi reached on an error. The pair advanced on a wild pitch and then came around to score on a pinch hit single from Kazuki Watanabe.
Jordan Taylor entered in the sixth and struck out four straight to end the game. Starter Keilani Ricketts (San Jose, Calif.) moved to 2-0 at the World Cup, throwing 4.0 innings and allowing two runs, just one of them earned. Ricketts walked two and struck out two. Thomas pitched 1.2 innings before giving way to Taylor for the final 1.1 innings of the contest.
"It was definitely a big win for us especially since the last time that we played Japan, it wasn't at all in our favor, and we were coming off a loss against Canada," Ricketts said. "So it was definitely a test to see how we would respond to that."
Arioto drove in five runs on her 2-for-4 night. R. Taylor and Taylor Hoagland (Flower Mound, Texas) also had multiple hit performances, each garnering two hits. Of the six walks issued by Japan, Cochran drew two.
Earlier in the day, Team USA fell behind early against Canada and were unable to come from behind to defeat Canada. The Canadians got to Team USA pitcher Thomas early and held on to win 4-3. Jenna Caira picked up the win for Canada, throwing 5.0 innings. Caira held the Americans to two earned runs on four hits, striking out seven. Jocelyn Cater threw 2.0 innings in relief keeping the Americans at bay until the seventh. She allowed one earned run on two hits and struck out four.
Canada jumped on the board in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Melanie Matthews led off the game with a double and Victoria Hayward walked to put two runners on with no outs. The pair advanced on a wild pitch and then came around to score on Kaleigh Rafter's double. After intentionally walking Kelsey Haberl, the Canadians grounded into two fielder's choices to end the inning.
Team USA answered in the bottom of the second as Cochran led off the inning with a solo home run to left center. Kaleigh Rafter added to her extra-base hit total in the top of the third with a solo home run to center to extend Canada's lead to 3-1
Canada added an unearned run in the fourth. Megan Baird reached on a walk and reached second safely on a fielder's choice before coming home on a groundout by Hayward.
Cochran got the run back for Team USA in the bottom half of the frame. She reached on a single and scored on a double to the right center field gap by Arioto to trim the Canadian lead to 4-2. Cater replaced Caira in the top of the fifth.
The Americans started a rally in the seventh as Moultrie reached on a leadoff single to left center and moved to second on a wild pitch. After Hoagland walked, Caira re-entered the game and promptly struck out two batters. Pinch hitter Ricketts then came through with an RBI single through the right side to score Moultrie and give Team USA life with runners at the corners. May-Johnson then grounded out to end the game and give Canada the 3-1 win.
Thomas pitched 3.0 innings allowing three earned run on five hits and two walks. Whitney Canion (Aledo, Texas) threw the final 4.0 innings of the game, holding the Canadians to one unearned run on one hit and two walks.
The U.S. plays its final game in round robin play tomorrow at 4:00 p.m./CT. The game will be televised live on ESPN2 and you can purchase tickets at the gate.
