BOX SCORE | PLAYS | CUMULATIVE STATS
CARY, N.C. – Team USA picked up a series-clinching victory over Chinese Taipei in commanding fashion, as the U.S. scored nine unanswered runs to win, 11-1, on Monday, July 1 at Coleman Field.
AS IT HAPPENED
- Team USA (3-0) lit up the scoreboard first in the bottom of the fourth, after Danny Dickinson (West Richland, Wash.) stole second and third, and touched home on a wild pitch. Two batters later, RJ Austin Jr. (Vanderbilt) lifted a towering homer to left field to put Team USA ahead, 2-0, after four.
- Chinese Taipei (0-3) trimmed the lead to one in the very next inning, after Zheng Jun-Wei won a lengthy battle at the plate to push a single through the right side. That brought in Lai Chun, and made the score 2-1, with Team USA ahead, heading to the bottom of the fifth.
- Devin Taylor (Indiana) sparked a big inning for Team USA in the bottom of the sixth, as he drilled a leadoff double to left field. Austin Jr. legged out a bunt single as the next batter, before he followed Taylor home on a two-RBI single to right field by Marek Houston (Wake Forest). Dean Curley (Tennessee) tacked on one more on a double to left center to score Houston, and that put Team USA ahead, 5-1, after six frames.
- Team USA brought the game to an early conclusion with six runs in the bottom of the seventh. Taylor belted a two-run homer down the right field line for his second extra-base hit of the night, and Drew Burress (Georgia Tech) followed with an RBI single of his own. Brooks Bryan (Troy) and Curley hit back-to-back doubles, as Bryan drove in one, and Curley plated the final two runs of the game at 11-1.
NOTABLE STATS:
- Nolan Schubart (Oklahoma State) was not tested, and drew five walks to improve his on-base percentage to .923, and his OPS to 3.123.
- Team USA tallied six extra base hits with two homers from Taylor and Austin Jr., two doubles by Curley, and a double apiece for Bryan and Taylor.
- Curley finished with three RBI, and Taylor and Houston each had two.
- The Team USA pitching staff held Chinese Taipei to just two hits and two walks, and struck out 13 batters. Kyson Witherspoon (Oklahoma) got the start on the mound, and fired six strikeouts, and Gabe Davis (Oklahoma State) dealt two spotless innings with four punchouts. Anthony Eyanson (UC San Diego) was the pitcher of record, and he fanned three of the seven batters he faced in 1.1 innings of work.
- Zheng and Huang Bo-Rui picked up both hits for Chinese Taipei.
ON DECK
Team USA will head west through North Carolina for the final two games of the 21st USA vs. Chinese Taipei International Friendship Series sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, and will play at First National Field in Greensboro, N.C. at 6:35 PM on Tuesday, July 2, before closing the series in Kannapolis, N.C.