ROCKFORD, Ill. – The USA Baseball Women’s National Team is set to compete in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Stage Rockford from July 22-26 at Rivets Stadium in Rockford, Illinois. The United States will compete for one of three berths from the group to the 2027 Women’s Baseball World Cup Finals.

Team USA opens Group Stage play against Korea on Wednesday, July 22, at 7:00 p.m. local/8:00 p.m. ET. Each game will be streamed on GameTime, while live stats will be provided by the WBSC. All information for the Women’s National Team schedule can be found HERE.

THE SCHEDULE

The Women’s National Team will compete in a series of round-robin games against the five other nations competing at the Group Stage Rockford.

Team USA’s schedule is as follows:

• July 22 – at Korea – 7:00 p.m. local/8:00 p.m. ET
• July 23 – Mexico – 7:00 p.m. local/8:00 p.m. ET
• July 24 – Australia – 7:00 p.m. local/8:00 p.m. ET
• July 25 – at Canada – 7:00 p.m. local/8:00 p.m. ET
• July 26 – Hong Kong – 7:00 p.m. local/8:00 p.m. ET

HISTORY IN THE GROUP STAGE

The Women’s National Team has competed in one WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Stage in program history. In 2023, the stars and stripes went 5-0 at Group Stage Thunder Bay, held in Thunder Bay, Canada. Competing against the same five teams as this year’s Group Stage, the United States opened the week with a 3-2 win over Australia. The squad then cruised past its competition, outscoring its next three opponents by a combined margin of 66-0. Team USA wrapped up the week with a 2-0 win against Mexico to improve to 5-0 and clinch a berth to the following year’s World Cup.

HISTORY AGAINST KOREA

Team USA and Korea have met only three times at the Women’s level, first meeting in 2010 at the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) Women’s Baseball World Cup held in Maracay, Venezuela. There, the United States downed Korea 21-0. The teams next met in 2018, when the stars and stripes defeated Korea 11-1 in five innings in a WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup game. In 2023, the U.S. again beat Korea by double digits, winning 14-0 at the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Stage Thunder Bay.

HISTORY AGAINST MEXICO

Team USA first faced Mexico in 2019 and is 3-0 all-time against its North American counterpart. After cruising past Mexico 17-2 on its home turf in 2019, the stars and stripes prevailed in a tighter contest the next time they played, winning 2-0 in 2023. The two programs also faced each other at the 2024 WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Finals, when Team USA defeated Mexico 11-1.

HISTORY AGAINST AUSTRALIA

The Women’s National Team has faced Australia more than any other nation besides Canada, having met 12 times. Their history dates back to the program’s inception in 2004, when the Women’s National Team played its inaugural game and earned its first win in program history against Australia during the 2004 IBAF Women’s Baseball World Cup. Overall, Team USA is 9-3 against its Australian counterparts. The two programs have met only three times since 2016–the last time the U.S. has lost to Australia.

In their last matchup, the United States earned a 3-2 victory over Australia in the opening game of the 2023 WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Stage Thunder Bay.

HISTORY AGAINST CANADA

The United States and Canada boast a rich history at the women’s baseball level, as the teams have met 19 times since their first meeting in 2004. Overall, the United States has won 12 of those matchups and has outscored Canada 174-93. Since 2019, Team USA is 6-2 against Canada and is currently riding a two-game winning streak.

The last time the teams met was in 2024, when the United States defeated Canada 13-4 in a World Cup contest and improved to 3-0 in the tournament. Additionally, this will be only the third time Team USA has hosted Canada on U.S. soil. Canada has played host on 12 previous occasions.

HISTORY AGAINST HONG KONG

Team USA is 3-0 all-time against Hong Kong since their first meeting in 2006. Two of the three meetings have come at a World Cup, while the most recent game took place at the 2023 World Cup Group Stage Thunder Bay. Additionally, the stars and stripes have surrendered only one run to Hong Kong and have outscored them 50-1.

THE VENUE

For the first time since 2018, the United States is hosting WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup action. The Group Stage Rockford will be held at Rivets Stadium in Loves Park in Rockford, Illinois. The venue is home to the Rockford Rivets, a summer collegiate wood bat team that competes in the Northwoods League, in addition to the Rockford University baseball program. The stadium has 3,279 seats and can hold up to 4,000 spectators.

Rockford owns a rich history related to women’s baseball. The city was once home to the Rockford Peaches, one of the founding members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League – a professional women’s baseball league founded by then-Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley. Among the 10 teams that played in the league, the Peaches were among the most successful, winning the league championship four times from 1943-54.

During that time, the Peaches played at Beyer Stadium in downtown Rockford. Recently, the stadium underwent renovations through a collaborative effort led by women’s baseball pioneer Maybelle Blair, the International Women’s Baseball Center, and numerous donors to preserve and revitalize the stadium and surrounding facilities.

Now known as Beyer Stadium at Maybelle Blair Park, the stadium celebrated its grand reopening on July 18, honoring the legacy of sports trailblazer Blair while celebrating the past, present, and future of women’s baseball. Prior to Team USA’s first game against Korea, the squad will be holding practice at the historic venue.

THE ROSTER

The 20-player roster is highlighted by 14 alumni and six newcomers who hail from 13 different states. The 14 alumni featured on the roster own a combined 57 years of national team experience. The list of alumni on the team is highlighted by Meggie Meidlinger and Kelsie Whitmore, who will make their ninth and 10th national team appearances, respectively. Additionally, six players on the roster have secured their first national team nod: Jordan Andreas, Bailey Brown, Amira Hondras, Sarah Lessig, Ashanthy Marcano, and Addy Wilson. Among this year’s national team roster, 19 have participated in past Women’s National Team programming while 15 players have attended a past girls’ development event jointly hosted in partnership with Major League Baseball. The 2026 Women’s National Team roster can be found HERE.

AT THE HELM

This year’s coaching staff will be led by 2000 Olympic gold medalist Mike Kinkade, and he will be joined by five-time national team gold medalist coaches Jason Sekany and Tanner Vesely, along with three-time Women’s National Team medalist Kristin Caldwell. Kinkade will be making his managerial debut, Sekany will serve as pitching coach, while Vesely and Caldwell will join as assistant coaches. The staff owns a combined 12 gold medals with USA Baseball as players and/or coaches. More information on the coaching staff can be found HERE.

SOCIAL MEDIA

To follow along with all the action with the Women’s National Team, be sure to follow @USABaseballWNT on X and @USABaseball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X.