Switzerland – Austria 2-10
AUT 010 000 018 10 9 3 SUI 000 000 011 2 7 4
The Austrian team defeated Switzerland 10-2 in the opener of the Qualifier in Antwerp, Belgium. And the game was much closer than the final score indicates. Austria led till the second after a RBI single by Simon Plagg. Afterwards, the teams traded zeros until the eighth. Both scored once and the ninth started. The Austrian bats got hot batting around, scoring eight runs to decide the outcome finally. Peter Ferak Jr. hit a bases clearing double. Lutz Rauch and Plagg each drove in two. Max Scholdan scored three times. Tobias Siegrist had a triple and scored a run for the Swiss. Janos Palatinus scored the second run.
Christian Tomsich (W 1-0) pitched eight-plus innings, allowing seven hits, two runs (1 ER) and two walks. He struck out five. Severin Fries (L 0-1) was charged with nine hits, ten runs (3 ER) and two bb in 8 2/3 innings.
Malta – Belgium was postponed till Thursday morning.