BEIJING, China --- The top seeded USA Softball Women's National Team will take on second seeded Japan at 9:30 a.m. local on Wednesday, August 20 during the opening round of the page playoff format in the Olympic Games. The winner of this game will automatically advance to the gold medal game while the loser will have to battle through the bronze medal game to advance to the gold medal game. The No. 3 seed is Australia and the No. 4 seed is Canada and they square off at Noon on Wednesday with the winner advancing to the bronze medal game and the loser going home.
At 7-0 overall, Team USA has set many records during the 2008 Games including most runs scored with 53, breaking a previous record of 51 set by the team in 2004. (See attached game notes for all records).
Japan finished the round robin play with a 6-1 record with their one loss coming to the U.S. team on Aug. 15 when the U.S. defeated them 7-0 in five innings. Monica Abbott recorded the win for the U.S. recording four strikeouts and allowing just one hit to Japan's Ayumi Karino. The Japanese losing pitcher was Naho Emoto.
Since 2004, the U.S. is 12-6 overall with Japan with Wednesday's probable starter Yukiko Ueno responsible for four of the six U.S. losses. For the U.S., five different pitchers (Freed, Hollowell, Southern, Finch and Osterman) have been saddled with the six losses.
SINCE 2004 vs. Japan
2005 World Cup - 1-1 - Japan wins first ever World Cup
2005 Japan Cup - 1-2 - Japan wins Japan Cup
2005 Sendai Series - 2-1 - USA wins Sendai Series
2006 World Cup - 2-0 - USA wins World Cup
2006 World Championships - 1-1 - USA wins World Championship
2007 Canada Cup - 2-0 - USA wins Canada Cup
2007 World Cup - 2-0 - USA wins World Cup
2007 Japan Cup - 1-1 - USA wins Japan Cup
TOTAL - USA leads series 12-6 since 2004
FOR COMPLETE GAME NEWS AND NOTES PLEASE SEE THE ATTACHED .PDF FILE.
TV NOTE: CNBC will broadcast the USA vs. Japan game on a tape-delayed 2 1/2 hours schedule as the team will square off with Japan at 9:30 a.m./local to Beijing on August 20.
About ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation's largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 83 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 240,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/
About USA Softball
USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men's, Women's, Junior Boys' and Junior Girls' National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women's National Team is one of the only two women's sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won eight World Championship titles including the last six consecutive as well as claimed two World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/
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