South Africa 100 003 010 5 7 1 Australia 100 021 26X 12 17 1
Australia has won the World Baseball Classic Qualifier in Sydney. They defeated 12-5 over South Africa on Sunday at Blacktown Sportspark in a game, which was much closer as the end result will tell. With the victory Australia will advance to the main tournament of the WBC in March of 2017. South Africa finishes in the runner-up spot and will miss out for a second consecutive time after being part of the first two World Baseball Classics.
But South Africa gave the Aussies a fight. After both teams scored once in the first, Australia took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth thanks to back-to-back home runs by Brad Harman and Allan de San Miguel. However Kyle Botha connected for a three-run shot in the top of the sixth to give South Africa a 4-3 advantage.
This however didn’t last long. Trent D’Antonio tied the contest with a RBI double in the bottom of the same frame. RBI singles by Mitch Dening and Trent Oeltjen got Australia back up 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh. South Africa cut the deficit to a single run through a RBI groundout by Brett Willemburg in the eighth. But instead of a thrilling finish to the game, Australia scored six runs to secure the win. D’Antonio capped the rally with a two-run single.
The World Baseball Classic Qualifiers continue in March in Mexicali and Panama City. European Baseball then will enter the competition with Germany, France, Czech Republic and Spain.