University of Tennessee Athletics
Gibson Homers, Lifts USA To Gold Medal Game
July 21, 2012 | Softball
July 21, 2012
SUNDAY: GOLD MEDAL GAME vs. JAPAN, 7 p.m. ET: WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS
WHITEHORSE, Yukon, Canada - Lauren Gibson homered for the fourth time in the ISF Fastpitch World Championships and drove in another run as USA topped Japan, 3-1 in eight innings to advance to the Gold Medal Game on Sunday. The Eagles will play in the final on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET. The opponent will be determined in the first game on Sunday, which starts at 4 p.m. ET.
Gibson opened the scoring with a solo home run in the first inning to put USA ahead 1-0. Japan tied the game in the third inning and the game stood deadlocked after seven innings.
With international tie-breaker rules in effect, USA scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning as the runner was placed at second base to start the inning. Christie Orgeron put USA ahead 2-1 as she drove in Molly Johnson. Then, Gibson smashed a ball to deep centerfield to drive in Orgeron to put the Americans up 3-1.
Keilani Ricketts shutdown Japan in the bottom of the eighth to secure the win.
For the World Championships, Gibson is hitting .579 (11-for-19) with four home runs, 12 runs scored and 11 RBI. She has reached base in 15 of 23 plate appearances.
Gibson spoke with SportsCanadaTV after the game.
On facing Japan's pitcher Ueno Yukiko: "Ueno was throwing some gas, so we tried to make contact and put the ball in play."
On having to play just one game on Sunday with the win: "Our pitchers can relax and our players can sit back and wait for someone to come to us."
On playing for the gold medal of the World Championships: "Tomorrow is just another game. You just have to go out and play another game. It doesn't matter what name is across the chest, we just have to go out and play our game."
Story from USA Softball
Gibson drives in two as USA defeats Japan 3-1 to earn a spot in ISF World Championship Finals
WHITEHORSE, Y.T. - The USA Softball Women's National team defeated Japan in extra innings on Saturday at the International Softball Federation (ISF) World Championships to earn a spot in Sunday's championship game the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America announced today. Lauren Gibson (Pasadena, Md.) was key in the American's win as she homered for the fourth time in the tournament and drove in another run late in the game.
"I thought we played really well as a team," said Gibson. "We kept fighting and did a great job of combining hits and driving in runs when we had people on base."
Keilani Ricketts (San Jose, Calif.) got her ninth win of the year for Team USA. The 2012 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year went just one and a third innings but came up big retiring the final four Japan batters of the game. Jackie Traina (Naples, Fla.) started the game in the circle for the USA going two and third innings before Chelsea Thomas (Pleasantville, Iowa) entered in relief. Thomas threw four and a third scoreless innings. The USA pitchers combined for five strikeouts while surrendering just one run on seven Japanese hits.
"Chelsea Thomas showed tremendous heart coming in to hold Japan at bay for four innings," said USA Head Coach Ken Eriksen. "We've told our pitching staff all year long to hold the other team at zero as much as we can and really a one-to-one game into extra innings is holding them at zero. She won't get the win or even the save but what she did in the ball game to help us get the win was phenomenal."
Yukiko Ueno was credited with her first loss of the tournament as she went the complete eight innings in the circle for Japan.
Gibson put the Americans on the board early in the game when she homered to center field with two outs in the top of the first inning. The USA lead held until the bottom of the third when Misa Okubo scored off of an RBI single from Yukiyo Mine for Japan.
Each team picked up three more hits but neither could convert additional runs in regulation and after seven innings the game was still tied at one run apiece.
As the visitors, USA batted first in the eighth inning. Molly Johnson (Lexington, Ky.) began the inning at second base by way of the international tie breaker rule. Christi Orgeron (New Orlean, La.) wasted no time giving USA the go-ahead run when she belted a double to left field scoring Johnson. Later in the at-bat, with two outs, Gibson came through again for the American team when she doubled scoring Orgeron from second base to give USA the 3-1 lead.
Eri Yamada began the bottom half of the inning on second base for Japan but three straight outs for Ricketts and the USA defense kept her from crossing the plate.
With Saturday's win USA advances to the finals where they will look to win their tenth overall ISF World Championship and eighth in a row. USA must wait to find out who they will play in the finals. Japan and Australia will compete in the bronze medal game tomorrow at 1:00 PM (PT) and the winner of that game will advance to play the United States at 4:00 PM (PT). The games will be aired via webcast at sportscanada.tv. Complete coverage of the World Championships can be found at www.usasoftball.com.
GAME DATE: 07/21/2012 United States 3 AT Japan 1YTD YTD USA AB R H BI AVG JPN AB R H BI AVG M.MOULTRIE CF 4 0 0 0 .143 K.MISATO RF 4 0 1 0 .143 S.MAY-JOHNSON 3B 4 0 2 0 .375 N.REI SS 2 0 1 0 .400 L.GIBSON 2B 3 1 2 2 .333 O.MISA 1B 3 1 1 0 .250 K.COCHRAN LF 3 0 0 0 .000 Y.ERI CF 3 0 1 0 .400 S.FISCHER PH 1 0 0 0 .333 M.YUKIYO C 3 0 1 1 .333 V.ARIOTO 1B 3 0 0 0 .000 S.YUKINA PR 0 0 0 0 .000 A.CHIDESTER 0,RF 3 0 0 0 .167 F.HARUKA DH 4 0 0 0 .000 A.HOLOCOMBE-BELL C 3 0 1 0 .400 S.HARUNA 3B 4 0 1 0 .286 M.JOHNSON SS 3 1 0 0 .000 I.YUMI LF 2 0 1 0 .250 C.ORGERON DH,RF 3 1 1 1 .500 S.MIKA 2B 3 0 0 0 .000 30 3 6 3 28 1 7 1
USA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 3 6 0 JPN 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 7 0 2B--L.GIBSON (1), C.ORGERON (1). HR--L.GIBSON (1). RBI--L.GIBSON 2 (2), C.ORGERON (1), M.YUKIYO (1). HP--O.MISA (1). SH--N.REI (0), I.YUMI (0). LOB--USA 5, JPN 10. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA USA J.TRAINA 2.1 2 1 1 2 2 0 2.10 C.THOMAS 4.1 5 0 0 1 2 0 0.00 K.RICKETTS (W,2-0) 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.21 8 7 1 1 3 5 0 JPN U.YUKIKO (L,1-1) 8.0 6 3 2 1 9 1 0.93 8 6 3 2 1 9 1 HB--J.TRAINA (1). SO--M.MOULTRIE 2, K.COCHRAN 3, S.FISCHER, V.ARIOTO 2, A.HOLOCOMBE-BELL, Y.ERI, F.HARUKA, S.HARUNA, S.MIKA 2. BB--L.GIBSON, N.REI, Y.ERI, M.YUKIYO. BF--J.TRAINA 12 (15), C.THOMAS 18 (22), K.RICKETTS 4 (26), U.YUKIKO 31 (54). P-S--J.TRAINA 50-32, C.THOMAS 58-38, K.RICKETTS 12-8, U.YUKIKO 128-94. T--2:49.
Weather: Umpires: Plate Ump - Rob Veldkamp, Field Ump #1 - Javier Penarroya, Field Ump #2 - Noreen Atkinson, Field Ump #3 - Diane Waller
