Garcia and Carda Combine for Two-Hit Shutout as USA Tops Chinese Taipei
The United States Women’s National Team began their push for gold this week in Chengdu, China, opening play with a two-hit shutout victory over Chinese Taipei.
Pitching set the tone early for Team USA, as Chinese Taipei struggled to put anything in play beyond the infield.
In the top of the second, Maya Brady and Jayda Coleman recorded the game’s first two hits with two outs. Sahvanna Jaquish drew a walk to load the bases for Janae Jefferson. That at-bat brought a pitching change for Chinese Taipei, with Hsia-Ai Ke taking the circle. Jefferson wasted no time, driving a two-RBI single up the middle to give USA a 2-0 lead.
Rachel Garcia continued to dominate, allowing only one baserunner through two innings on a hit by pitch while striking out two. Chinese Taipei’s offense still could not find a spark.
Tiare Jennings led off the third inning with a single, marking Team USA’s fourth hit of the game. Ke began missing her spots, and USA took advantage. Jennings came around to score on a Bubba Nickles fielder’s choice to push the lead to 3-0.
Garcia kept the scoreboard clean, allowing another runner on a hit by pitch before Jaquish caught her stealing. Through three innings, Garcia had yet to allow a hit, with two strikeouts and two hit batters.
In the bottom of the fourth, Garcia struck out the first two batters and retired the side in order, continuing her dominance.
Jennings extended the lead in the fifth with the first home run of the World Games for Team USA, a solo shot that made it 4-0. To start the bottom half, Garcia would be done for the day. She finished with four innings pitched, no runs, no hits, four strikeouts, and two hit batters. She threw 36 strikes on 56 pitches. Ally Carda entered in relief and worked a perfect inning on three consecutive groundouts.
Chinese Taipei’s first hit came in the sixth on a single by Ting-En Chiang. A walk followed, but Carda quickly ended the threat. Taipei managed just one more hit the rest of the way.
The score held at 4-0 as USA closed out the win, fueled by dominant pitching and timely hits. The team will face the Netherlands next, with first pitch set for 10 PM EDT tonight on live.theworldgames.org.
Notable Stats:
Tiare Jennings – 2-for-4, HR, RBI, 2 Runs
Jayda Coleman – 2-for-3, Run
Janae Jefferson – 1-for-3, 2 RBIs
Rachel Garcia – 4.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 4 K
Ally Carda – 3.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 K
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Featured Image Credit: United States Women’s National Team (@USASoftballWNT)
