USA, Canada and Australia Clinch 2027 Finals Spots on Day Fo
Day Four of the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Group Stage settled which three teams will move on from Rockford.
Mexico earned its first win of the tournament, Australia returned to the win column and the United States won the matchup between the final two unbeaten teams. With one day remaining, the United States, Canada and Australia have secured the three Group Rockford places in the 2027 Finals.
Mexico 15, Hong Kong, China 3
Final in four innings
Hong Kong, China scored first when Wing Ki Mui singled home Yin Sum Kwong in the top of the first, but Mexico answered with three runs in the bottom half.
Joselyn Hernández Iñiguez doubled home Gabriela Sandoval before Edith De Leija added an RBI single. Karina Rodríguez Ibarra drew a bases-loaded walk later in the inning to give Mexico a 3-1 lead.
Mexico added three more runs in the second. Daniela Leal Aguilar delivered a two-run double to left-center field before Rosi del Castillo singled her home.
Hong Kong, China cut the lead to 6-3 in the third. Hiu Tung Avis Wong doubled home Hoi Lam Ku, then Chung Yan Yuen scored on a wild pitch.
Mexico responded with six runs in the bottom half.
Hernández Iñiguez opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly before Leal Aguilar and De Leija delivered consecutive RBI singles. Del Castillo followed with another run-scoring single, then two more runs crossed on an error and Rodríguez Ibarra’s RBI double.
Mexico added three runs in the fourth. De Leija doubled home Hernández Iñiguez and Denise Perez Velazquez before scoring when del Castillo reached on an error.
De Leija went 3-for-4 with a double, four RBI and two runs scored. Leal Aguilar added two hits and three RBI, while del Castillo finished with two hits and two RBI.
Sandoval collected two hits, walked twice and scored three runs. Hernández Iñiguez also scored three times and drove in two as Mexico finished with 13 hits.
Lesly Gonzalez Sena allowed three runs over three innings and struck out three. Angela Valenzuela Quintero followed with a scoreless inning as Mexico completed the 15-3 victory.
Australia 13, Korea 3
Final in six innings
Australia took control with six runs in the first inning.
Lili Cavanagh opened with a double and scored on an error before Leah Cornish brought home Caitlin Eynon with another double. Maddison Heath followed with a two-run single, then Genevieve Beacom and Abbey Kelly delivered consecutive RBI doubles.
Korea cut the lead in half in the third when Jua Park hit a three-run home run down the left-field line.
It was Korea’s only scoring play of the game.
Australia answered with two runs in the bottom half. Eynon singled home Kelly before Cornish drew a bases-loaded walk, extending the lead to 8-3.
The score remained there until Australia ended the game with five runs in the sixth.
Beacom opened the inning with her second double and scored on Kelly’s third hit. Eynon added an RBI double before Cornish singled home another run. Claire O’Sullivan followed with a sacrifice fly, then Beacom drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home the final run.
Kelly went 3-for-3 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored. Cornish collected two hits, drove in three and scored twice, while Eynon added two hits and two RBI.
Beacom finished with two doubles, two RBI and two runs. Cavanagh also had two hits and scored twice as Australia collected 13 hits.
Allison Bebbere allowed four hits and three runs over 4.2 innings to earn the win. Brittney Baker recorded the final out of the fifth before Cornish worked a scoreless sixth.
United States 12, Canada 0
The United States scored three runs in the first and never trailed in the meeting between the group’s two unbeaten teams.
Jamie Baum and Kelsie Whitmore opened the rally with singles before Denae Benites was hit by a pitch. Alexandra Hugo brought home two runs with a single up the middle, then Ashton Lansdell added an RBI single.
Lansdell walked and stole second in the third before Amira Hondras singled her home. Team USA carried a 4-0 lead into the fifth.
Remi Schaber doubled the advantage with a two-run home run to left-center field. Lansdell had opened the inning with another single.
The United States added two runs in the sixth. Baum singled and scored on Hugo’s second RBI hit of the game, then Hugo stole second and came home on a wild pitch.
Four more runs crossed in the seventh.
Jill Albayati opened with a double before Naomi Ryan reached on a bunt single. Kate Blunt brought home pinch runner Sarah Lessig, Baum doubled in Ryan and Benites added an RBI single. The final run scored on a wild pitch.
Baum went 3-for-5 with a double, three runs and an RBI. Lansdell finished 3-for-3 with a walk, an RBI, two runs and two stolen bases.
Hugo collected two hits and drove in three, while Whitmore and Albayati each added two hits. Schaber’s home run accounted for two of Team USA’s 16 hits.
Ryan earned the win after allowing two hits over four scoreless innings. She walked three and struck out six.
Elise Berger followed with two hitless innings and six strikeouts. Meggie Meidlinger struck out two in a perfect seventh as the three combined on a two-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts.
Andréanne Leblanc and Alizée Gélinas recorded Canada’s two hits.
After Day Four
The United States sits alone at the top of Group Rockford with a 4-0 record. Canada and Australia are each 3-1, while Mexico and Korea are 1-3 and Hong Kong, China is 0-4.
The United States, Canada and Australia have clinched the three places in the 2027 Women’s Baseball World Cup Finals. All three have competed in each of the tournament’s nine editions and have combined for 16 medals, including seven each for the United States and Canada and two for Australia.
Sunday’s final three games will determine the order in which the advancing teams finish Group Rockford:
11 a.m. CT: Mexico vs. Korea
3 p.m. CT: Canada vs. Australia
7 p.m. CT: United States vs. Hong Kong, China
Photo Credit: WBSC (Flickr)