Italy edge South Africa 2-1 in pitching duel to clinch first Placement Round win

Italy’s pitchers Pietro Verzin and Sebastiano Castellani limited South Africa to one run in seven innings to lead their team to a narrow 2-1 win, in Thursday's Placement Round opener at Ed Smith Stadium. 

Verzin struck out eight in six innings while allowing one run and six hits to get his first win of the tournament; while Castellani tossed a perfect seventh inning to earn the save.

For South Africa, Kyle Schwartz pitched well in a complete-game effort, giving up two runs and eight hits against four strikeouts, but didn’t get enough support to claim the win.

Italy scored their first run in the bottom of the third, when Alessandro Laise hit a triple to right field, and scored on a defensive error in the same play. South Africa tied the game in the fourth but the Europeans scored the go-ahead run in the bottom half of the same inning.

Italy, ranked 17th in the world, now have a 1-2 win-loss record in the Placement Round while world No. 26 South Africa sit at 0-3.