2023 WBSC World Cup – Group A

USA 5, Chinese Taipei 0

The world-ranked No. 1 U.S. Women’s National Team (WNT) kicked off the XVII World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Cup Group A event today with a 5-0 shutout over No. 3 Chinese Taipei, highlighted by a 3-for-3 day at the plate from Team USA veteran, Hannah Flippen, and a two-run home run from Kiki Milloy. The pitching staff of Ally Carda and Megan Faraimo took control in the circle with Carda setting the tone through the first five innings followed by two innings of work from Faraimo to seal the win for Team USA. 

Despite a quiet first and second inning, the U.S. offense came alive in the top of the third thanks to an RBI single from Ali Aguilar and a two-run long ball from Milloy to put the Eagles ahead, 3-0. Flippen tacked on another run for Team USA in the top of the fifth after drawing a leadoff walk and stealing her way around the bases due to a throwing error by the Chinese Taipei defense. The U.S. snagged its final run of the game in the top of the sixth with a one-out triple from Aliyah Andrews that set the stage for a sac-fly from Sis Bates to put the Eagles ahead, 5-0. 

Carda limited the Chinese Taipei offense to a solo hit through five innings before handing over pitching duties to Faraimo who closed out the final two innings with five K’s and a fly out. 

USA 15, Botswana 0 (5 innings)

Team USA picked up its second win of the XVII World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Cup Group A event today with a 15-0 (five-innings) run-rule over Botswana. A collective effort at the plate, four U.S. batters tallied a multi-hit game in the win with Aubrey Leach leading the pack behind a 2-for-3 performance with two singles, two RBI and three runs scored. Kelly Maxwell got the start in the circle for the Eagles, fanning eight Botswana batters through three innings before Montana Fouts stepped in for the final six outs – each of which were recorded via a strikeout. 

The U.S. got on the board early thanks to the Tennessee Vols duo pushing across the first run of the game with a leadoff single from Leach followed by an infield RBI from Kiki Milloy to put the Eagles on top, 1-0. Once again sparking the fuse for the Eagles, Leach sent a deep sac-fly to left field in the top of the second to put the U.S. on top, 2-0, before busting the game open in the top of the third.

Aguilar got things started with a solo home run followed by a two-out rally that began with a single from Jocelyn Alo and a triple from Aliyah Andrews – her second of the tournament – to tack on another run. The Eagles stayed hot with two outs, stringing together a walk, two singles and a double to extend the U.S. lead, 8-0. Team USA went down in order in the top of the fourth but quickly made up for the silence in the top of the fifth with a seven-run inning to put the run-rule in effect. With three outs remaining, Fouts took care of business in the bottom of the frame with three K’s to seal the 15-0 five-inning run-rule. 

Maxwell limited the Botswana offense to a solo hit through three innings while striking out eight before Fouts added six strikeouts of her own to combine for a 14-strikeout performance – allowing only three batters to make contact through five innings. 

USA 1, Australia 0 (8 innings)

Behind the arm of Megan Faraimo and bat of Hannah Flippen, the U.S. Women’s National Team (WNT) picked up its third-straight shutout of the XVII WBSC World Cup in walk-off fashion with a narrow 1-0 extra inning win over Australia.

The matchup proved to be a defensive showdown with neither side able to break the silence through seven complete innings, sending the game into extras with a 0-0 score. Faraimo went the distance in the circle for the Eagles, tallying 10 strikeouts through eight innings while limiting the Australian offense to just one hit. A quiet day for the U.S. bats, Jocelyn Alo, Sahvanna Jaquish and Flippen were the only recorded U.S. hits in the game. After being robbed of a home run in the bottom of the first, Flippen called redemption with her back against of the wall, sending a bases-loaded single over the infield in the bottom of the eighth to seal the 1-0 win.