THUNDER BAY, Ont. — Canada won its third game of the Women's Baseball World Cup on Saturday with an adventurous 11-7 win over Australia at Port Arthur Stadium.
And the team has officially punched its tickets to the 2024 WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Finals.
Canada, which opened the six-team tournament on Tuesday with a 9-1 victory over Mexico, followed by a 22-3 win over Hong Kong a day later, jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third inning, but Australia scored twice in the bottom of the inning and five more times in the fifth to grab a 7-4 lead.
Canada bounced back with three runs in the sixth inning to tie the game 7-7 and then scored four unanswered runs in the seventh for the win.
Canada outhit Australia 10-9 and committed one error compared to Australia's three.
Allison Schroder of Fruitvale, B.C., tossed four innings allowing two earned runs on three hits and four walks, before Raine Padgham of Abbotsford, B.C., came on for the final three innings.
Canada was led offensively by shortstop Alexane Fournier who had three hits and five RBIs. Centre-fielder Sena Catterall had two hits and scored three runs. Designated hitter Alizee Gelinas had two hits, two RBIs and scored two runs.
Canada's lone loss in Group A was a 23-0 defeat to the United States on Thursday. Canada will play winless South Korea on Sunday, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET.
The U.S. leads the Group A standings at 4-0, followed by Mexico and Canada at 3-1. Australia and Hong Kong are 1-3 and South Korea is 0-4.
BASELINES: Canada already had a spot in the finals locked up as the host country with the event set to take place in Thunder Bay next year, but has now earned their way after picking up their third win in Group A, ensuring no worse than a third-place finish in the six-team group stage event.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 12, 2023.
The Canadian Press
