Australia will play for seventh at the U23 World Cup after a 3-2 loss against Puerto Rico in their Opening Round finale in Monteria, Colombia.
Michael Gahan made his second quality start of the tournament, as the Lismore native struck out five and only surrendered three runs in 6.2 innings.
After a sensational performance against Venezuela earlier in the week, Gahan again gave Australia an opportunity to succeed, keeping the Puerto Rican offence quiet in the first three innings.
"Gahan pitched really well again," Manager Tony Harris said of Michael Gahan.
"He continues to use his secondary stuff really well and we executed our game plan well too."
That result seals Australia's place in the consolation round, where they will face South Africa, as well as two unconfirmed countries.
Ulrich Bojarski cemented himself as Australia's best hitter in the opening round, with the Detroit Tigers prospect picking up two doubles and an RBI to lift his tournament average to .391.
Australia claimed four more hits than Puerto Rico on the day - but couldn't make the most of their chances - leaving nine men on base.
"We had our chances," Harris said.
"We left a lot of runners on base and struck out too many times, it was a tough night offensively."
The second round of the U23 World Cup begins early Friday morning AESDT, stay tuned to Team Australia Baseball for a full schedule.