Preview: Medal games on the line as Australia take on Chinese Taipei

No. 7 ranked Australia has a Bronze Medal game in their sights as they take on no. 4 ranked Chinese Taipei in the WBSC Premier12 this afternoon.

A win for Australia would guarantee a bronze medal game against no. 6 ranked Mexico, who fell to no. 3 ranked Korea last night.

If Chinese Taipei win, it sets up a bronze medal game between Mexico and no. 2 ranked USA. The winner of a potential Mexico v USA Bronze Medal game would automatically qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Chinese Taipei fell out of Premier12 contention with a 3-2 loss against the US yesterday. Chinese Taipei lead by one in the bottom of the seventh, before US right-fielder Brent Rooker crushed a two-run homer to give the US a lead. Despite a strong start from Sheng-Feng Wu, Chinese Taipei failed to score in the late innings, sealing a win for the US.

Australia kept their Bronze Medal hopes alive with a nail-biting 2-1 over the US on Wednesday. Australian starter Tim Atherton struck out four in five one-hit innings, while Aaron Whitefield’s two-RBI single in the first inning held up.

Former MLBer Chih-Wei Hu toes the rubber for Chinese Taipei and makes his second appearance at the 2019 Premier12. The big righty struck out three and gave up one unearned run against Japan in their Opening Round game.

Australia will counter with veteran right-hander Dushan Ruzic. Ruzic allowed one run in four innings in Australia’s Super Round opener against Japan on Monday.

First pitch from the Tokyo Dome is slated for 12:00 JST.