Saenz and Pepe's pitching paces Argentina to 3-1 win over Canada in Super Round

Nahuel Saenz and Juan Jose Pepe had a strong outing for Argentina on Thursday night in the Super Round of the WBSC U-23 Men's Softball World Cup. Both pitchers combined for a one-hitter, with 17 strikeouts to lead the host team to a 3-1 victory over Canada.

Saenz struggled to find the zone in the first inning but managed to get out of the scenario unscathed. The starter issued three consecutive walks, with one out, but he bounced back with a pair of strikeouts to escape the bases-loaded jam.

In the top of the second, Argentina took the lead, with Juan Platner hitting a clutch two-out single to center field that drove in the first two runs of the game. Conrado Zanuttini reached on an error and Alejo Muñoz sent Zanuttini on the run from first to third with a single to right field. Muñoz put himself in scoring position stealing second base before Juan Platner’s hit.

Canada scored their only run in the bottom of the fourth. Dallas Kipfer connected his team’s only hit of the game, advancing to second on a wild pitch, and then scoring from there with another wild pitch as he stole third and home plate in the same play.

Argentina scored an insurance run in the top of the sixth. Alan Peker hit a hard single to right field and took second when the ball was dropped on the exchange between glove and hand. One pitch later, Juan Cruz Garolini scored Peker with a double into the left-center gap.

With Argentina’s win, four teams - Argentina, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand - are tied in third place with a 1-2 record. They are behind undefeated Japan and second-placer Australia.