Australia beat Chinese Taipei after eight-hour rain delay to finish third in Opening Round. Both teams meet again in the playoffs

Australia closed the Opening Round with a 5-0 win against Chinese Taipei, in a game that had an eight-hour delay due to inclement weather in Balbriggan, Ireland. With this result, Australia finished third place in the round robin. 

Australia took an early in the first inning. A leadoff walk, and then three consecutive one-out hits by Taylah Tsitsikronis, Kylie Steemers and Jade Wall put the first two runs on the scoreboard. After that, the rain and wind forced a rain delay that lasted until 18:30, when the game resumed.

In the bottom of the third, Australia extended their lead with a Stacey McManus RBI single, a sac fly by Tamieka Whitefield and a passed ball. 

Kandra Lamb got the start for Australia and was credited with the win, after pitching 4.2 innings, with three strikeouts and four hits. Kaia Parnaby retired the last seven outs, giving up two hits.

Both teams will face off again tomorrow at 10:30 local time, in an elimination game. The winner of this game will earn the chance to play against the loser of the final between Great Britain and USA, with the second ticket to next year’s Finals in the line.