On Friday, the Super Round of the IV WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup was held in Colombia. Colombia defeated Australia 8-6, and Branlyn Jaraba contributed four RBIs to the winning cause.
The third baseman launched a home drive good for two runs and a double that loaded the bases. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Australia had the opportunity to bat for the potentially tying run. Both teams did not advance to the medal round.
Jaraba launched a two-run home ball in the bottom of the second to put Colombia in the lead. He then smacked a bases-loaded double in the top of the fifth to produce four runs and give enough insurance for Colombia’s bullpen in case Australia staged a comeback.
The third batter of the game, Jaraba,
Blasted a home run off of Dylan Clarke, and the designated hitter, Bryan Buelva, added a two-RBI double in the top of the second inning.
In the bottom of the inning, Australia scored their comeback run by collecting five singles while playing against Victor Vargas. Right fielder Travis Bazzana and shortstop Jarryd Dale each had hits that drove in runs for Australia. After that, Australia would go on to outhit Colombia 12-7, but it wouldn’t be enough to pull off the upset.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Australia cut the deficit to just one run thanks to an RBI hit by Dale, which was his second of the day.
After the third Australian pitcher, right-hander Jayden Bastow, let up a leadoff double to the Colombian shortstop Hector Martinez, the Colombians were finally able to take the lead in the top of the fifth inning. After that, he intentionally walked Buelvas and then hit second baseman Carlos Arroyo, which set the stage for Jaraba.
The first two runs were scored as a result of Jaraba’s double, and the third run was scored as a result of an error in the relay, which allowed him to score the eighth run on a sacrifice fly.
The bottom of the seventh inning saw Australia bring in relief pitcher Luis Arrieta. After catcher Alex Hall had a double, designated hitter Mitchell Edwards drove in a run for the team with a single. After Arrieta had walked the third baseman, Clayton Campbell, center fielder Solomon Maguire hit a triple to score all of the runs.
The Colombian bullpen was summoned in a hurry to provide relief for José Altamiranda. The game was over when left fielder Tyson Zamora, who was representing the possible tying run, worked the count all the way through before striking out looking at a breaking ball.
No. 10 Australia will play their final game against No. 2 Chinese Taipei at 19:00 local time on Saturday, while No. 11 Colombia will end their Super Round run against No. 3 Korea at 10:00 local time.
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