Despite some tense moments late in the game, Australia held on for a 1-1 tie with the Orix Buffaloes at the Kyocera Dome.
Both teams had the winning run on third base in the final inning of the ballgame, with Australian pitcher Josh Tols escaping a bases loaded situation with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
Team Australia scored their first run at the Kyocera Dome in the first inning, with Tim Kennelly driving in David Kandilas care of a sacrifice fly to centre field. Orix struck back swiftly, with a sacrifice RBI of their own in the bottom of the first.
MLBer’s Peter Moylan and Warwick Saupold both saw time on the bump, their first appearance of the pre-World Baseball Classic tour. Saupold gave up Orix’s first run, while Moylan claimed a strikeout and gave up a hit in his inning of work.
Following both teams picking up a run in the first inning, the hits dried up, with a combined two hits in the final five innings proving the dominance of both pitching staffs.
Team Australia Manager Jon Deeble was really pleased with his team's defensive output in his team’s final pre-World Baseball Classic warm-up game.
“I thought our pitching was fantastic tonight,” Deeble said.
“It was an outstanding effort defensively, to give up only two hits through seven innings was really promising. It's not easy to get hits facing these types of pitchers, they're very talented with their split finger fastballs, it's not easy but we're making a lot of progress.”
Australia had a chance to go ahead in the final inning, with Mitch Dening aboard via an error. Dening got as far as third base, but Logan Wade was the third out of the inning, as Australia couldn’t capitalise on the opportunity.
Australia now travels to Tokyo, where they will play Japan, China and Cuba at the World Baseball Classic. Australia’s first game sees them take on host nation and world #1 Japan, with every Australian game shown live on ESPN Australia/NZ. Tune in live at 7pm local (9pm AEDT) on Wednesday 8 March to see Team Australia begin their World Baseball Classic.
