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Team USA Defeats Japan, 13-2 7/12/2005 TOKYO, Japan — Trailing 2-1, the USA Baseball National Team sent 14 batters to the plate in a 10-run sixth inning Tuesday in a 13-2 pounding of Team Japan in the final game of the 34th Annual USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Series at Jingu Stadium. The win snaps an eight-game losing streak against Japan for Team USA, which holds a 108-88 advantage in the all-time series. Despite repeated requests by USA Baseball, Japan has declined to play a fifth game in the series as a makeup for last Saturday’s rainout at Kumano. USA Baseball’s requests for a doubleheader were declined, as were USA Baseball’s requests for a Wednesday morning game before traveling to Taiwan. Japan wins the 2005 series three games to one. Matt Wieters (Georgia Tech, Fr., Goose Creek, S.C.) got things started for Team USA in the sixth, driving in Sean Doolittle (Virginia, Fr., Tabernacle, N.J.) with a double to the gap in right-center. That opened the flood gates as the next seven USA batters reached base. J.P. Arencibia (Tennessee, Fr., Miami, Fla.) had the game-tying hit, scoring Wieters with a single to center. Pinch runner Drew Stubbs (Texas, So., Atlanta, Texas) later scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Hunter Mense (Missouri, So., Liberty, Mo.) pushed Team USA’s lead to 6-2 with a two-run double. Matt LaPorta (Florida, So., Port Charlotte, Fla.) added an RBI ground-rule double. Shane Robinson (Florida State, So., Tampa, Fla.), who earlier in the inning pinch ran for Wieters, followed with a two-run double. Team USA, playing as the home team, added two more runs in the eighth, the first scoring on an error and the second scoring on a Doolittle double to center. Starter Kyle McCulloch (Texas, So., Houston, Texas) was steady on the mound for Team USA. McCulloch (2-0) allowed two runs on seven hits and a walk with nine strikeouts in 6.0 innings to earn the victory. He struck out the side in the second, completing a streak of five consecutive strikeouts. Wieters gave Team USA the game’s first lead with a two-out RBI through the left side in the bottom of the fourth. The lead was short-lived, though, as Japan put together three consecutive two-out hits in the top of the fifth to take a 2-1 advantage. Jon Jay (Miami-FL, So., Miami, Fla.) finished the game 2-for-3 with three runs scored. Wieters and Blake Davis (Cal State Fullerton, So., Fountain Valley, Calif.) also had multiple-hit games. Davis was 3-for-4 and scored twice. Team USA travels Wednesday to Taipei, Taiwan. The National Team faces Chinese Taipei in the first of a five-game friendly series Thursday at 3:30 a.m. EDT (5:30 p.m. in Taiwan). TEAM USA 13, TEAM JAPAN 2 Japan 000 02 0 000 - 2 9 2USA (4-3) 000 1010 20x - 13 14 0 WP — McCulloch (2-0). LP — Shimoshikiryo. Sv — None. T — 3:01. Takaichi, Miyamoto (4), Shimoshikiryo (5), Matsuzaki (6), Hirano (6), Ohba (7) and Tanaka, Kurashige (6); McCulloch, Gunderson (7), Doolittle (9) and Arencibia, Jeroloman (7). 2B — Kokubo, Ohsaki; Doolittle (1), Jay (1), LaPorta (1), Robinson (2), Wieters (2). HR — none. |
