Baseball · Olympics SoftBall · 2020

Date & time

26 Jul 2021, 03:00

Round

5

Venue

Yokohama Stadium

Location

Yokohama, Japan

Japan faced the United States in a preview of the gold medal game to follow. Ally Carda started for the Americans in her first tournament pitching appearance. In the top of the first, Saki Yamazaki reached safely on an error by Kelsey Stewart and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Hitomi Kawabata’s single left runners at the corners, and Yamazaki scored an unearned run on a passed ball by Aubree Munro, giving Japan a 1–0 lead. Yamato Fujita, pitching for Japan, held the United States scoreless for 5⅓ innings, while Carda struck out the side in the second and held Japan at bay through the fifth. Cat Osterman relieved Carda in the sixth, striking out two batters. In the bottom of the sixth, Haylie McCleney and Janie Reed singled. After a fielder’s choice advanced McCleney, Val Arioto tied the game with a single to left field. Ali Aguilar walked to load the bases, but Delaney Spaulding flied out to end the inning. Monica Abbott pitched a perfect top of the seventh, preserving the tie. Facing Fujita in the bottom of the seventh, Kelsey Stewart ended the game with a home run to right field.