TAICHUNG CITY, Taiwan – The Collegiate National Team (3-1) went toe to toe with Japan (3-1) for 11 innings in the title game of the World Collegiate Baseball Championship on Wednesday evening at Intercontinental Stadium, but ultimately fell short 6-3 to finish runner up at the inaugural event.
The game was tightly contested and went back and forth, as each team tallied just five hits each across the 11 innings. Despite taking a lead in the third, Japan responded by tying the game in the seventh and eventually taking the lead in the 10th. The U.S. answered in its half of the inning with a run, but Japan once again responded in the 11th with three runs to eventually secure the extra-inning win.
After two scoreless innings, the U.S. broke the deadlock in the third thanks to a 2-RBI single by Gavin Kelly. Ryker Waite led off the side by reaching on an error, Derrick Pitts followed with a bunt single, and after another error moved them both into scoring position, Kelly delivered his team-leading eighth hit of the tournament to bring both runners home.
Starting pitcher Tomas Valincius threw four innings of one-hit ball with six strikeouts to keep the U.S. ahead early on. Aidan King took over in the fifth and sixth and delivered two shutout innings, but Japan managed to tie things up in the seventh with two runs of its own. Back-to-back errors allowed Kai Watabe to reach base and eventually move to third, and then a sacrifice bunt by Takara Yamasoto allowed him to score the first run. Kazuki Inoue followed with a double to center field and crossed home plate on Yuzuki Nakayama’s single to center field for the tying run.
Japan looked to take its first lead of the game in the eighth, as it managed to load the bases on one out, but reliever Jackson Barberi tallied back-to-back strikeouts to escape the jam. He proceeded to toss another hitless inning to keep Japan at bay.
After a pair of three up, three down frames in the ninth to force extra innings, Japan took its first lead of the game in the 10th. With runners at first and second as part of the international tiebreaker rules, a sacrifice bunt followed by a groundout to short brought the go-ahead run across.
The U.S. responded in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a RBI single by Pitts to left field, scoring Anthony Pack Jr. after he moved to second on a groundout double play. Kelly and Pitts each turned in two-hit performances, and both finished the tournament on a four-game hit streak.
In the 11th, Japan scored three runs to take its lead back. With runners at second and third, a defensive miscue by the U.S. brought both of them home. Following a two-out walk to put runners at the corners, a single to left field by Keiya Nishino drove in the final run of the frame.
The stars and stripes looked to rally in the bottom frame, loading the bases thanks to Nico Partida’s walk after runners were once again placed on first and second to start the side, but a strikeout and popout ended the threat and gave Japan the victory.
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