MONTERREY, Mexico – The WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup® 2016 entered Day 2 of competition with three of the day’s six games having concluded Saturday afternoon.
No. 27 Argentina scored their first win of the global tournament with a win over No. 33 Austria, while No. 1 Japan KO’d No. 4 Chinese Taipei, and No. 13 Australia defeated No. 18 Nicaragua. Both Japan and Australian remain unbeaten.
Game 7: Argentina 13, Austria 3
Jorge Emanuel Gomez had a pair of doubles and scored three runs as Argentina (1-1) used a 7-run seventh inning to defeat Austria (0-2), 13-3, via the mercy rule.
Ezequiel Agustin Talevi and Julian Pedrouzzo both went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI as part of Argentina’s ten hit attack.
Argentina starting pitcher Federico Robles Martin worked all seven innings on the mound and had five strikeouts en route to the win. Austria starter Fabian Hirnschal struck out eight batters over five and two-thirds innings of work but took the loss.
Game 8: Japan 15, Chinese Taipei 3
Kengo Takeda’s 2nd inning grand slam highlighted an 8-run outburst as Japan (2-0) handed defending U-21 world champion Chinese Taipei (1-1) a 15-3 seven-inning loss.
Yusuke Masago went 4-for-5 with three doubles and four RBIs for a Japan squad that had 17 hits.
Japan received a strong effort from winning pitcher Tomohiro Anraku who had eight strikeouts over six innings.
Yu Chieh Kao homered for Chinese Taipei, while starting pitcher Yen Ching Lu took the loss.
Game 9: Australia 6, Nicaragua 5
A bases-loaded walk to Guy Edmonds in the bottom of the ninth gave Australia (2-0) a 6-5 win over Nicaragua (0-2).
Edmonds was a key piece in Australia’s offense as he drilled a 2-run homer in the sixth.
Sam Holland tossed two innings of relief and was credited with the win, while Adolfo Ramon Flores Estrada took the loss for Nicaragua.
Nicaragua fought back to tie the score in the eighth courtesy of a Cesar Javier Diaz Molina RBI double who drove in two runs on the afternoon.
LIVE-STREAMING
All 50 games of the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup® 2016 in Monterrey are being live-streamed globally and free-of-charge for audiences.
