Runs were flowing thick and fast early between Chinese Taipei and Australia at the U23 World Cup, with 10 combined runs scored after two innings, and it was Australia who held on in one of the games of the tournament, defeating the reigning champions 8-7 in Saltillo.
Australia’s offence has fired in each game so far at the U23 World Cup, and tonight was no exception, knocking in four runs in the first inning of the day. Aaron Whitefield led off with a single, before Jacob Younis doubled him home. Zac Shepherd added another single, and Connor MacDonald did the rest, crushing a three run bomb to give Australia a 4-0 lead.
Not to be outdone, Chinese Taipei piled five runs on in the second inning, which set the platform for a bullpen focused game.
Australia picked up a pair of runs in the fourth to tie the ballgame, but as quickly as Australia levelled it up, Chinese Taipei regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth.
From there, defence reigned supreme, with Conor Lourey working strongly from the Australian bullpen. Lourey worked 4.2 innings, pitching well to strike out five and giving up no earned runs.
One of the highlights of the tournament came in the fifth, where Australia turned the first triple play in U23 World Cup history.
Jacob Younis came up huge in the top of the eighth, nailing a solo home run to tie up the ballgame following some heated exchanges between Ping Hsueh Cheng and the Australian dugout.
A tense ninth inning saw both teams have opportunities to take the lead, however extra innings was needed to decide the winner. Zac Shepherd worked a bases loaded walk to take the lead; he was followed by a lock-down 10th inning on the mound from Josh Guyer to seal a famous Australian victory.
Australia’s next opponent at the WBSC U23 World Cup is Argentina, with the game kicking off at 6.30am AEDST tomorrow morning.
To stay in touch with everything to do with the U23 World Cup, head to the Baseball Australia website.
Click here for the full box score.
