Gordon Drives in Two Runs in Team USA Win

TAINAN, Taiwan (www.USABaseball.com) -- Starting pitcher Ricky Romero (So., Cal State Fullerton, Los Angeles, Calif.) struck out 12 in seven scoreless innings to lead the USA Baseball National Team to a 2-1 victory over host Chinese Taipei in the FISU II World University Games Saturday night in front of 5,168 fans at Tainan Stadium.

First baseman Alex Gordon (So., Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb.) game Team USA the only runs they would need with a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Team USA moves to 1-0 in pool play and will take on Canada (0-1) at 12 p.m. (12 a.m. EST) at Chengching Stadium in Kaohsiung.

Romero struck out 12 and gave up only four hits in seven shutout innings to improve to 3-1 on the summer and lower his ERA from 1.69 to 1.17. Closer J. Brent Cox (So., Texas, Bay City, Texas) sealed the win giving up one unearned run in two innings to pick up his first save of the summer.

Team USA broke up the pitcher’s duel with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Zimmerman drew one-out walk and moved to third on a ground-rule double by catcher Taylor Teagarden (So., Texas, Carrollton, Texas). Gordon singled up the middle to plate both runs, giving the Red, White and Blue the 2-0 lead.

Chinese Taipei looked to cut into Team USA’s lead in the top of the seventh, but solid defense kept them off the scoreboard. Third baseman Zong-Nan Lin singled to center field with a runner on second base, but defensive replacement Drew Stubbs (Fr., Texas, Atlanta, Texas) threw a strike to his Texas teammate Teagarden at the plate to keep Taiwan off the scoreboard.

The Americans were one out and one strike away from the shutout, but Taiwan designated hitter Kao-Hui Lo hit a ball that Team USA right fielder Travis Buck (So, Arizona State, Richland, Wash.) misjudged to score a run and cut the lead to 2-1. After a walk, Cox buckled down and forced shortstop Ching-Ho Chen to bounce into the game-ending fielder’s choice.

Game Notes: Catcher Taylor Teagarden and designated hitter Jeff Clement each extended their hitting streaks to four games... Romero’s 12 strikeouts are a high for any Team USA pitcher this summer... Cox and Romero combined to strike out 15 batters, second only to 16 earlier this summer against Canada (6/29)... the game was preceded by an hour-long opening ceremony that included a visit by the Chinese Taipei president.

 

Box score (NCAA) 2004 USA Baseball National Team Chinese Taipei vs USA National Team Jul 24, 2004 at Tainan, Taiwan (Tainan Stadium)

Chinese Taipei 1 (0-1,0-1 FISU)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Yao-Hsing Yang rf........ 4 0 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 Chung, C. cf............. 4 0 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 Wei-Chuan Su 2b.......... 3 1 0 0 1 3 2 2 1 Kuo-Lung Hsu 1b.......... 3 0 0 0 0 2 4 1 0 Tai-Chi Kuo ph.......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kao-Hui Lo dh............ 3 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 2 Zong-Nan Lin 3b.......... 2 0 1 0 2 1 2 1 0 Chiang-Ho Chen ss........ 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 Chung, Ch. c............. 3 0 0 0 0 1 9 2 0 Hsien-Ming Yu lf......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 Chien-Ming Chiang p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Kuo-Ching Lee p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Totals................... 30 1 3 0 4 15 24 9 6

USA National Team 2 (11-7,1-0 FISU)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB ------------------------------------------------------ Brett Hayes lf........... 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Drew Stubbs cf.......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Jed Lowrie 2b............ 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 Jeff Clement dh.......... 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 Ryan Zimmerman 3b........ 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 Travis Buck rf........... 2 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 Taylor Teagarden c....... 3 1 1 0 0 0 16 0 0 Alex Gordon 1b........... 3 0 2 2 0 0 2 1 1 John Mayberry Jr. 1b.... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Troy Tulowitzki ss....... 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 2 Trevor Crowe cf/lf....... 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 Ricky Romero p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 J. Brent Cox p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals................... 28 2 7 2 2 10 27 6 5

Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Chinese Taipei...... 000 000 001 - 1 3 1 USA National Team... 000 200 00X - 2 7 2 -------------------------------------------

E - Lee(1); Buck; Tulowitzki(3). DP - Taiwan 2; Team USA 1. LOB - Taiwan 6; Team USA 5. 2B - Lowrie(6); Teagarden(4). SH - Buck(2). SB - Yang(1); Chung, C.(1); Lo(1). CS - Buck(2).

Chinese Taipei IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Chien-Ming Chiang... 5.0 5 2 2 2 8 19 21 79 Kuo-Ching Lee....... 3.0 2 0 0 0 2 9 10 38

USA National Team IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP -------------------------------------------------- Ricky Romero........ 7.0 3 0 0 2 12 23 25 91 J. Brent Cox........ 2.0 0 1 0 2 3 7 9 35

Win - Romero (3-1). Loss - Chiang, C. (0-1). Save - Cox (1). Inherited runners/scored: None. Pitches/strikes: Chiang, C. 79/54; Lee 38/27; Romero 91/61; Cox 35/18. Umpires - HP: Hayshi (Japan) 1B: Gilbert (Canada) 2B: Brycht (Czech) 3B: Chang (Taiwan) Start: 7:05 PM Time: 2:32 Attendance: 5168 Game notes: ID-275389 Game: 04USA19