Team USA won the 4th KFC World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City on Monday with a 3-1 victory over Australia in the championship game. Monica Abbott gave up just one run on four hits in 5 1/3 innings for the win. She struck out eleven. Cat Osterman closed it out with three strikeouts in 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Justine Smethurst conceded three runs on five hits in three innings for the loss. The USA took the lead in the third, by putting three runs on the board on a solo homerun by Lauren Lappin and RBI singles by Alissa Haber and Andrea Duran. Stacy Porter answered with a solo homerun in the fourth, but Australia wasn’t able to score afterwards. The game will be shown ‘as live’ on ESPN America later today.
Canada finished in third place after beating Olympic champion Japan 4-1. Danielle Lawrie issued one run on four hits in seven innings to lead the way. Jennifer Yee hit a solo homerun. Sayuri Yamane took the loss. The Netherlands had opened the final day at the tournament with an easy 8-1 win over Italy to capture fifth place. Nathalie Gosewehr, Virginie Anneveld, Chantal Versluis and Saskia Kosterink hit homeruns. Rebecca Soumeru gave up just one run on three hits in a six-inning complete game win.
Final Standings:
- USA
- Australia
- Canada
- Japan
- Netherlands
- Italy
