MONTERREY, Mexico – Australia, Chinese Taipei and Japan all recorded wins this afternoon as the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup® 2016 opened across three venues in the cities of Monterrey and Saltillo, Mexico.
Defending U-21 baseball World Cup champion Chinese Taipei earned a shutout win over Argentina, while Australia defeated Austria and Japan beat Nicaragua.
Game 1: Australia 8, Austria 1
No. 13 Australia received home runs from Zachery Shepherd, Connor Macdonald and Guy Edmonds as they handed No. 33 Austria an 8-1 loss in the first game of the U-23 Baseball World Cup 2016.
It was newcomer Austria who opened the scoring as Ferdinand Obed homered in the top of the first, however Australia starter Nicholas Hutchings shut things down during his six-inning outing to earn the win.
Austria starter Felix Zimmerle took the loss.
Game 2: Chinese Taipei 10, Argentina 0
Tzu Wei Lin and Chung Ting Chen both homered, while No. 4 Chinese Taipei starting pitcher Yi Chung Liao tossed five scoreless innings and struck out eight to get the win as Chinese Taipei blanked No. 27 Argentina, 10-0.
Lin’s home run was a solo shot in the fourth, while Chen’s was a three-run shot in the fifth.
Argentina left-fielder Julian Pedrouzzo collected two hits including a double, while Lucas Ramon Aramayo took the loss.
Game 3: Japan 6, Nicaragua 1
World No. 1 Japan starting pitcher Keisuke Honda used seven shutout innings to lead his side over No. 18 Nicaragua by a score of 6-1.
Japan opened the scoring on a sacrifice fly from Takumi Miyoshi in the top of the second and later received a sacrifice fly off the bat of Tomo Nicholas Otoska Rousselot and an RBI double from Yusuke Masago in the fifth.
Koki Yamashita’s two run triple in the ninth put Japan in front by six runs.
Rafael David Estrada Mendez’ RBI double in the bottom of the ninth scored the only run of the game for Nicaragua.
Nicaragua starter Marlon De Jesus Altamirano Martinez took the loss.
Three games are scheduled for this evening, including No. 36 South Africa vs No. 7 Venezuela, No. 14 Czech Republic vs No. 3 Korea, and No. 8 Mexico vs No. 15 Panama.
