(July 27, 2002)

USA Continues Runs at World Championship With 13-0 Win Over Czech Republic

Saskatoon, SK, Canada (July 27, 2002) After a slow start, the United States opened up its offense and improved to 2-0 at the Women's World Championship with a 13-0 win over the Czech Republic (0-2) Saturday evening at Bob Van Impe Stadium.

Lori Harrigan (Las Vegas, Nev.) threw a two-hitter with eight strikeouts and no walks allowed to pick up the victory in a game that was shortened to five innings due to the mercy-rule. With the win, Harrigan improves to 5-0 all-time in World Championship play, and she hasn't allowed a run in the combined 29 innings she has pitched.

Leading just 1-0 after two innings, the U.S. scored eight runs in the bottom of the third and four in the bottom of the fourth to force the mercy-rule.

"I thought we showed a lot of discipline tonight at the plate," said USA head coach Mike Candrea. "After starting off slow, our team made adjustments with each at-bat. As long as we continue to make those adjustments, we can be a very good offensive team."

Team USA tallied ten hits for the game, with nine players recording safe hits. Stacey Nuveman (La Verne, Calif.), who went 2-for-2, was the lone player to post a multi-hit game.

It was Nuveman's first hit, a double in the bottom of the first, that opened the game's scoring. With two outs and Natasha Watley (Irvine, Calif.) on second, Nuveman lofted a ball to right field that fell in and allowed Watley to score.

In the wild-and-wooly third, Nuveman, Lisa Fernandez (Long Beach, Calif.) and Amanda Freed (Cypress, Calif.) all had RBI-singles, while Lovieanne Jung (Fountain Valley, Calif.) added a sacrifice fly. The final three runs of the frame came on a string of three wild pitches that eventually cleared a bases-loaded scenario for the USA.

Michele Smith (Califon, N.J.) highlighted the fourth inning with an opposite field two-run home run that cleared the fence in left-center. It was the first home run of the tournament for the U.S., and it also scored Tairia Mims (Tucson, Ariz.), who had started the inning with a stand-up double down the left-field line. An error on a ball hit by Watley produced the remaining two runs.

Katerina Dvorekova and Eliska Pojerova had the hits, both singles, for the Czech Republic. Lucie Marsikova, the starting pitcher, took the loss.

USA Softball, which is attempting to win its fifth consecutive Women's World Championship, continues round-robin play with a game against host Canada Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

"We've got to come out tomorrow and play with a lot of emotion," said Candrea. "Canada will be fired up to play in front of their home crowd."

For complete coverage of USA Softball including complete box scores, play-by-play and team statistics visit www.usasoftball.com.

[Source: USA Softball]