On this date in USA Baseball history, Team USA finished play in the preliminary round with a 12-1 win over Australia. With the win, Team USA heads into the semifinals with a 6-1 record and the second seed in the medal round.
Former major-league pitcher Mark Hutton got the start on the mound for the host nation Australia in what would be their Olympic finale. Despite Hutton’s best efforts, Team USA’s play at the plate just could not be stopped.
The offensive slump that Team USA experienced in its loss to Cuba did not translate over, and in the second inning, the Americans scored four runs on three hits and never looked back. A 34-minute rain delay put the game on pause after Team USA added another run in the second to bring the score to 5-0, but they didn’t stop there.
In the top of the fourth, the Americans brought around five runs and set the score at 10-0. Every Team USA player either had a hit or scored a run throughout the course of the game.
On the defensive side of things, Kurt Ainsworth was on the mound for Team USA and through five innings he had only allowed one run on five hits, while striking out three in the process.
With a 10-1 ballgame in the sixth, Marcus Jensen hit a solo home run to extend the lead by 10 runs. Team USA added a final run in the seventh and was complemented by Chris George pitching two shutout innings of relief to keep the score at 12-1. The extra runs ended the game after the seventh due to the international run-rule.
With the results of Korea over South Africa and Cuba over Japan, now second seeded Team USA will take on third seeded Korea in the semifinals. First seeded Cuba will take on fourth seeded Japan in the other semifinal.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| USA | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 14 | 0 |
| AUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| Win: K. Ainsworth Loss: M. Hutton | Box Score |
September 24, 2000: We finished out the #Sydney2000 preliminary round 💪🏼 against Australia #ForGlory🇺🇸
— USA Baseball (@USABaseball) September 24, 2020
📝: https://t.co/z1RGf3rTpQ pic.twitter.com/tdYy536bRV
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
QUOTABLES
- "I felt good about our ballclub, and I feel good about it now. I think our chances are good. If we play like we're capable of, we'll see what the results are." Tommy Lasorda (Baseball America, Miracle on Grass)
- “Our emotions had dropped a little after last night, and tonight we got our intensity back. We focused right in and got Kurt some runs and got off to a good start, which we haven’t been doing enough. We had a more businesslike attitude tonight, and that’s what we need for the final two games.” Doug Mientkiewicz (Baseball America, Miracle on Grass)
- “We were more relaxed tonight, and we went out and hit like we did in the exhibitions. The last few games, we’ve had some struggles, but the team made some adjustments.” Reggie Smith (Baseball America, Miracle on Grass)
- "I think when we play the way we're capable of, there's no team in this tournament that can beat us. It's up to us to play up to our capability." Brent Abernathy (Baseball America)
