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USA Pitchers Shutout Streak at Five in Wins Over South Africa & the Philippines at WBSC World Championship

Danielle O’Toole pitches in the 12-0 win over Philippines.

Team USA pitching has been on fire with five straight shutouts, the latest a combined no-hitter, at the WBSC World Championship in Chiba, Japan.

And the offense hasn’t been too bad either, putting up 44 runs collectively in the five victories.

Since opening with a 5-2 win over Mexico last Friday, the staff of USA pitchers comprised of Rachel Garcia, Monica Abbott, Keilani Ricketts, Kelly Barnhill and Danielle O’Toole have dominated pool play dominating win wins against Chinese Taipei, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines and South Africa.

Team USA’s game against Puerto Rico originally scheduled for tomorrow, August 8 at 6 pm JT (4 am CST), has been rescheduled for 10 am JT (August 7, 8 pm CST) due to impending weather delays.

Here’s a look at the latest pair of victories which came over the last two days with information and photo provided by USA Softball…

*****

USA 7, South Africa 0 (Tuesday)

The USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT) defeated South Africa 7-0 on Tuesday, as the pitching trio of Rachel Garcia (Palmdale, Calif.), Keilani Ricketts (San Jose, Calif.) and Kelly Barnhill (Marietta, Ga.) combined to throw a no-hitter and lead Team USA to their fifth-straight shutout victory.

The Red, White and Blue remains undefeated, moving to 6-0 in pool play at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Championship.

Getting the start in the circle for the first time at a World Championship was Garcia who dealt three-straight strikeouts in the top of the first inning to bring up the U.S. offense. Team USA’s leadoff hitter Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.) singled before stealing second and reached third on a groundout from Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.).

After Delaney Spaulding (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) was issued a walk, Sahvanna Jaquish (Highland, Calif.) put the U.S. on the board first with a sac fly to deep right center. With two outs, Spaulding stole second but a groundout from Kasey Cooper (Dothan, Ala.) closed out the first frame.

Garcia held South Africa scoreless in the second, retiring the side by posting another three strikeouts. The Red, White and Blue took to the bats in the bottom half of the frame, as Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) led off with a single and advanced to third one out later after Ricketts singled to right field. With runners on the corners, Kirsti Merritt (Lake Panasoffkee, Fla.) recorded her second home run of the tournament to extend the U.S. lead, 4-0, before a groundout and fly out finished off the inning.

The U.S. remained dominant in the circle, with Garcia collecting another three strikeouts to silent the bats of South Africa. Meanwhile, the U.S. got their leadoff batter on for the third-straight inning as Spaulding singled to center and one out later, was safe at second after Cooper grounded into a fielder’s choice.

A single up the middle from Moultrie next would plate Spaulding and move Cooper to third. It didn’t take long for Moultrie to steal second before Taylor Edwards (Murrieta, Calif.) was issued a walk to load the bases for the U.S. and signal a pitching change for South Africa. Unfortunately, a pair of fly outs followed to strand the runners and close out the third.

Ahead 5-0, Ricketts entered the circle in the fourth, shutting down the South African offense on a groundout and back-to-back strikeouts.

To no one’s surprise, McCleney hit a leadoff single and after a groundout and fly out ensued, Jaquish came up big and blasted a two-run shot over centerfield to make it 7-0. A walk to Cooper before a double from Moultrie put two runners on for Team USA, but a fly out from Edwards ended the fourth frame.

Meanwhile, Barnhill entered to pitch the fifth and issued fanned the next three batters to finish out the final inning of the game and put a cap on the U.S. victory.

Both Moultrie (3-for-3) and McCleney (2-for-3) each had a multi-hit game, while Merritt and Jaquish posted home runs to help the U.S. offense. Garcia earned the win for Team USA, fanning nine batters in three innings of work.

USA 12, Philippines 0 (Monday)

In the earlier game, Team USA’s Danielle O’Toole (Upland, Calif.) started in the circle for the USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT) and went the distance to complete the 12-0 (four innings) shutout win at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women’s World Championship.

Paired with stellar pitching, the offense racked up the runs early to claim the run-rule victory and improve to 5-0.

“Our game plan tonight was to go at them hard after they (Philippines) came off a big win last night over the Netherlands,” said Women’s National Team member, Danielle O’Toole. “Watching my teammates be successful at the plate is fun to watch and extremely fun to be a part of. It gets me hyped and it lets me know they’re working hard for me like I’m trying to do for them.”

Hitting in the leadoff spot, Hayle McCleney (Morris, Ala.) singled to left field to start the game, while another single from Ali Aguilar (Orangevale, Calif.) one out later put runners on the corners for Team USA.

With one out, a deep fly out to right field from Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.) brought home McCleney while Aguilar would be stranded at third. Philippines singled twice in the bottom half of the inning but a pair of strikeouts and ground out stopped them from crossing home.

Haylie McCleney continues her hot hitting streak.

Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Ga.) was hit by a pitch to start off the second and took third after Kasey Cooper (Dothan, Ala.) doubled to left field. With two on and no outs, Aubree Munro (Brea, Calif.) went deep to extend the U.S. lead, 4-0.

After a Philippines pitching change, Kirsti Merritt (Lake Panasoffkee, Fla.) was issued a walk and would steal second before advancing to third after McCleney drilled one to deep left center.

Janie Reed (Placentia, Calif.) grounded out into a fielder’s choice to close out the inning, bringing the U.S. defense back out on the field who managed to shut Philippines down and strand two on base.

The Red, White and Blue scored five runs in the third inning to take a comfortable 9-0 lead over the Philippines. Arioto singled to left field while Delaney Spaulding (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) was issued a walk to put two runners on, while a single from Cooper loaded the bases for Team USA.

With the bases loaded, back-to-back walks to Munro and Merritt made it 6-0. McCleney grounded into a fielder’s choice to plate Cooper before two additional runs crossed home after a RBI single from Aguilar and a walk issued to Arioto. Ahead 9-0, the WNT retired the Philippines side in order to close out the third inning.

It wasn’t long before Team USA put two aboard in the top of the fourth. With two outs, McCleney stepped up to the plate and blasted a fly ball past center field for the second home run of the night for the U.S.

On top 12-0, the WNT took that lead into the bottom half where they retired the side and sealed their fourth shutout victory of the tournament.

The WNT racked up nine hits as McCleney, Aguilar and Cooper all collected multiple hits for the Red, White and Blue. McCleney went 3-for-4 at the plate, driving in four runs, including her home run in the fourth inning. O’Toole earned the win, striking out five batters and allowing just two hits in her four innings of work.

*****

The softball flagship competition will feature 73 games across 10 days of competition. The top four finishers from each group will advance to the double page playoff round, while nations not advancing will compete in the placement round.

The World Championship finale will take center stage on August 12 at 7 pm JST following the bronze medal match at 2 p.m. JST. The top nation will claim the first of five available softball spots for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with Japan qualifying automatically as the host country.

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