International & NPF

USA Women’s Softball Advances at 2016 Softball World Championships with 11-0 Win

USA Softball

Surrey, B.C., Canada  — A six-run second inning helped lead the USA Softball Women’s National Team (WNT) to an 11-0 (four innings) shutout over the Philippines at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women’s World Championship.  Seven batters combined for 11 hits as the U.S. offense continued to shine while Jaclyn Traina (Naples, Fla.) and Kelly Barnhill (Marietta, Ga.) combined for the shutout victory.

Box Score

The Philippines would get two base runners on early in the game after a hit batter and single put runners on the corners with two outs.  Traina delivered the heat, issuing a strikeout for the third out on a full count pitch.  The U.S. would be kept off the board in the bottom of the frame to keep the game scoreless through one inning of play.

The Red, White and Blue would not be kept off the board for long, however, as the offense plated six runs on a two-out rally in the bottom of the second.  The first run of the inning would come on an RBI single from Janie Takeda (Placentia, Calif.), which allowed Ali Aguilar (Orangevale, Calif.) to score from second.  Haylie McCleney (Morris, Ala.) followed suit, singling to center to bring Bianka Bell (Tampa, Fla.) home.  A double from Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.), a single from Jazmyn Jackson (San Jose, Calif.) and a double from Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.) plated an additional four runs for the U.S. to make it a 6-0 lead after two innings of work.

Traina continued to do work in the top of the third inning, keeping the Philippines off the board after utilizing the U.S. defense with a pair of fly outs and a groundout to Stewart at second base.  Adding to their lead in the bottom of the frame, Team USA strung together five hits to add five runs to their lead.   Picking up two RBI, McCleney tripled to center field while Jackson also picked up two RBI on a single to left field.  Also plating a run was Arioto, who recorded her second double of the game on a fly ball to right field.

With an 11-0 lead in the top of the fourth, Barnhill entered the circle for the U.S. and picked up where Traina left off.  Barnhill made quick work of the first two batters, getting a popup and a ground out to Aguilar at shortstop before a single put a runner on base.  A fly ball to Takeda in left field ended the game, with the U.S. walking away with the shutout win.

Traina earned the win in the circle for the U.S., retiring three batters with a strikeout while allowing just three hits in her three innings of work.  Barnhill finished the final frame, allowing just one hit.  For the offense, McCleney racked up three RBI while Stewart, Jackson and Arioto each picked up two RBI.

With the win, Team USA earned the No. 1 seed in Pool B to move to the Double Page Championship Round, where they will face Venezuela at 7:30 p.m. PT.  Live stats and links for pay-per-view streaming can be found at ASAUSASoftball.com.

About ASA/USA Softball
Founded in 1933, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball is the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, ASA/USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 70 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.2 million.  ASA/USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine World Championship titles as well as claimed eight World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about ASA/USA Softball, please visit http://www.asausasoftball.com.

About the World Baseball Softball Confederation 

Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland — the Olympic Capital — the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the world governing body for baseball and softball. WBSC has 213 National Federation and Associate Members in 142 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe and Oceania, which represent a united baseball/softball sports movement that encompasses over 65 million athletes and attracts approximately 150 million fans to stadiums worldwide annually.

The WBSC also governs all international competitions involving official National Teams. The WBSC oversees the Softball World Championships (Men, Women, U-19 Men, and U-19 Women), Premier12, World Baseball Classic, and Baseball World Cups (U-12, U-15, U-18, U-23 and Women’s).

For further information, please go to www.WBSC.org or follow the WBSC on Twitter at @WBSC.

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