Olympics Prep: Team USA Takes Two from Team Alliance as Stand Beside Her Tour Continues in Texas

The “Stand Beside Her” tour, presented by Major League Baseball (MLB) returned to action on Saturday in Sugar Land, Texas as the USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT) kicked off its final pre-Olympic tour stop with two wins against Team Alliance.

Team USA claimed game one of the four game series against Team Alliance with a narrow 1-0 victory before closing the day with a 4-1 come-from-behind win.

The U.S. pitching staff combined for 18 strikeouts in the two wins with Cat Osterman (Houston, Texas) retiring nine Alliance batters in her stellar Game Two performance.

At the plate, Team USA collected 11 hits on the day with Janie Reed (Placentia, Calif.) combining for a 3-for-6 offensive outing with three RBI.

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Game One
USA 1, Team Alliance 0

Ally Carda (Elk Grove, Calif.) got the start in the circle and worked her way out of a walk and a two-out single with a pop out to bring the home team to the plate. Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.) set the tone in the leadoff spot with a double down the right field line, but three-straight pop outs would end the U.S. at bat.

A 1-2-3 inning from Carda in the top of the second would send Delaney Spaulding (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) to the plate for Team USA, who led off the inning with a single to right field before advancing to second on a sac-bunt from Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Tenn.). A perfectly placed line drive over the short stop’s head from Reed would bring Spaulding around to score and give Team USA a one run edge before a strikeout ended the inning.

Carda continued dealing in the circle for the U.S., retiring the next three batters in order with a strikeout, ground out and fly out. McCleney would fuel the U.S. offense yet again in the bottom of the third with a leadoff single followed by another single from Ali Aguilar (Orangevale, Calif.) to put runners in scoring position. What looked to be a big inning for the Eagles ended quickly as the next three U.S. batters went down in order to leave the runners stranded.

Team Alliance loaded the bases in the top of fourth with a leadoff walk igniting the inning before Keilani Ricketts (San Jose, Calif.) entered the circle with a runner on and one out. A single up the middle followed by a fielder’s choice ground out and a walk would load the bases for the Alliance before Carda took back over pitching duties and ended the threat with a strikeout.

A quiet fifth inning from both sides would hold the U.S. lead steady, 1-0, before a bases loaded sixth inning for Team USA would look to break the silence.

Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.) started the inning with a double to center field before advancing to second on a sac-bunt from McCleney. Walks to Aguilar and Amanda Chidester (Allen Park, Mich.) loaded bases for Spaulding but an infield pop out would retire the inning.

A 1-2-3 sixth inning from both squads would send the game to the seventh with the U.S. on top, 1-0. Monica Abbot (Salinas, Calif.) entered the circle in the top of seventh and quickly closed out the game with two strikeouts and a groundout to secure the 1-0 win for Team USA.

For Team Alliance, Kelly Maxwell threw 4.1 innings and gave up six hits with just one run. Alabama star Montana Fouts threw 1.2 innings and didn’t give up a hit while striking out two.

Alyssa Brito and Janae Jefferson got the only hits for the team.

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Game Two
USA 4, Team Alliance 1

Team USA’s Osterman got the start in the circle for Game Two, tossing a stellar performance in front of her hometown crowd. Despite allowing a home run in the bottom of the first, the Houston native turned it up a notch through the next four innings, striking out nine Alliance batters without allowing another hit in the game.

Team Alliance scored its lone run of the game in the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run from Alyssa Brito, but a ground out and a strikeout would send the U.S. to the plate for the top of second.

A pair of walks would put runners on base for Team USA, but two strikeouts would leave them stranded. Osterman took control in the second and third innings, retiring the next six batters she faced with five strikeouts and a ground out.

The U.S. offense would remain quiet until a three-run fifth inning would give them a one-run lead. Bubba Nickles (Merced, Calif.) took a ball to the knee to lead off the inning for Team USA before a fielder’s choice bunt from Aubree Munro (Brea, Calif.) would allow Nickles to advance to second on the throwing error, putting runners on first and second for the U.S.

Stewart laid down a perfectly placed sac-bunt to move the runners 60 feet closer to home plate before Reed ripped a ball up the middle to plate two and give the U.S. a 2-1 lead. A double down the left field line from Chidester would add to the U.S. lead, bringing Reed around to score and putting the U.S. on top, 3-1.

Osterman continued dealing in the bottom of the frame with three-straight strikeouts to send Team USA back to the plate for the top of sixth. A single by Nickles followed by a double from Munro would put runners on the corners for Team USA before a passed ball would allow Nickles to score and extend the U.S. lead, 4-1.

Rachel Garcia (Palmdale, Calif.) entered the circle for Team USA in the bottom of the sixth, forcing two fly outs and a ground out to keep the Alliance off the bases. Reed picked up her second hit of the game with a leadoff single in the top of the seventh, but the next three U.S. batters would go down in order to end the final U.S. at-bat.

Abbott took over pitching duties in the bottom of the seventh, earning her second save of the day with a line out and two strikeouts to claim the 4-1 win.

Georgina Corrick was in the pitcher’s circle for Team Alliance and went six innings, allowing three runs on three hits and striking out six. Lauren Howell threw one inning in relief.

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The U.S. WNT will close out the four-game series tomorrow with a doubleheader set to kick off at 1:05 p.m. The games will mark the final contests of the pre-Olympic “Stand Beside Her” tour.