BANGKOK Thailand
Two wins by the U.S. softball team at the World University Games on Monday earned it a daunting medal-round game against Canada.
Sara Lovestrand’s RBI triple in the bottom of the first led the Americans to a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic. The Americans then beat Australia 3-0 in the completion of a game suspended Saturday at 0-0 in extra innings due to darkness.
The wins gave the U.S. a 3-1 record overall and a playoff game Wednesday against the Canadians, who have won all four matches they have played, outscoring the opposition 39-0.
“Today we got some clutch two-out hits to score runs in both games,” said Team USA co-head coach Beth Keylon-Randolph. “Jessica (Ware) has been struggling lately and she is one of our best hitters so it was nice to see her come through.”
In the suspended game against Australia, Ware cleared the bases with a two-out triple and pitcher Dana Alcocer (2-0-1) held off a late Australian rally in the bottom of the eighth.
At the games pool, American Pat Mellors broke his own games record in the 400-meter individual medley in a time of 4 minutes 12.94 seconds. The time was more than a second better than his record-setting preliminary swim earlier Monday.
