Panama – Greece 8-3
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Greece lost the opener of the 2011 Baseball World Cup 3-8 to host Panama on Saturday night at Rod Carew Stadium in Panama City. The team of manager Jim Essian put up a good fight, but a series of misplayed flyballs erased a 3-0 lead and a four-run rally in the sixth broke the tie. Conception Rodriguez did most of the damage, going 3-for-3 with a homerun, three runs scored and two RBI. Constantin Panagotacos drove in two for the Greek squad. Paolo Espino struck out eight batters in six innings for the win. Meletis Meleches took the loss after 5 1/3 frames.
On Sunday the other three European participants will enter the competition alongside the 11 other teams. Germany faces Nicaragua in Chitre, the Netherlands square off with Chinese Taipei in Aguadulce and Italy takes on the Dominican Republic in Santiago. For full BWC coverage go to www.ibaf.org