-Courtesy of USA Baseball–
ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS— Team USA (24-10, 3-2 WPT) made sure Japan (0-5 WPT) remained winless at the World Port Tournament, crushing the Japanese 10-0 in seven innings behind a 13-hit attack to snap a two-game losing streak.
Eric Surkamp (1-0, North Carolina State) pitched six scoreless innings, striking out four, while walking two. Surkamp and Cody Satterwhite (Ole Miss) combined on a four-hitter, as Satterwhite did not allow a hit in the seventh. Surkamp also rolled three double play balls and struck out the side in the second in the midst of eight in a row retired.
Brett Wallace (Arizona State) had three hits, while Jordy Mercer (Oklahoma State), Josh Romanski (San Diego), Jordan Danks (Texas) and each had two hits. Ryan Flaherty (Vanderbilt) had his second multi-hit game of the tournament. Roger Kieschnick (Texas Tech) hit the team’s first grand slam of the summer, part of a seven-run sixth inning.
The Americans pushed across two runs in the first to lead 2-0. An RBI groundout by Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt), his seventh RBI of the tournament, made it 1-0, before an RBI single by Wallace doubled the score. A Danny Espinosa (Long Beach State) sacrifice fly in the fourth made it 3-0 as Japanese starter and loser, Robert Booth, left after four innings, giving up three runs on seven hits.
Mercer’s RBI double in the sixth made it 4-0, before Kieschnick’s grand slam doubled the score to 8-0. Wallace’s second hit in the inning, an RBI single, made it 9-0.
TEAM NOTES
The Americans finished 4-3 against two Japanese teams this summer, winning the last three games in the series… Team USA beat Japan 1-0 with their only hit, a Logan Forsythe base hit in the ninth in the earlier meeting in the tournament and also won on the last day of the series in Durham… Cuba beat Chinese Taipei 6-5 in 14 innings, tying the game in the ninth inning on their final strike after Taipei took the lead in the bottom of the eighth…. Cuba is now 5-0, Chinese Taipei is 2-3, and the Netherlands, who were off today and won last night over Taipei, 4-3, are 2-2… Logan Forsythe (foot) missed his second straight game… games can be followed live on the internet at http://www.worldporttournament.nl/… Stats are available at: http://utopia.ision.nl/users/hwede/stats07/wpt07/ and under live scoring.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Americans will play have an off day on Wednesday and then close out the summer with consecutive games against the Netherlands (1 p.m. Eastern), Chinese Taipei (8 a.m.) and Cuba (8 a.m.). The Finals are on August 12 at 7 a.m, Eastern, finishing the summer.
