LaPorta Has Two Hits, But USA Baseball National Team Falls to Japan, 7-3
Friday, July 8, 2005 | Baseball
The USA Baseball National Team suffered its first setback of the 2005 tour Friday, falling 7-3 to Team Japan in game one of the 34th Annual USA versus Japan Collegiate All-Star Series at the Osaka Dome. Although Team USA (3-1) has lost six straight against Team Japan, it still leads the all-time series, 107-86. Gator sophomore All-American Matt LaPorta (Port Charlotte, Fla.) boosted his average to .357 on the trip with a 2-for-4 effort that included a triple. He was the only member of Team USA to have more than one hit.
Team Japan took the game's first lead with two runs on two hits in the bottom of the third. Suguru Akiyama started the inning with the game's first hit, a liner just off the glove of a leaping Adam Davis (Fort Myers, Fla.) at second base. After a sacrifice bunt, a wild pitch and a hit batter, Akiyama scored from third on a Tetsuya Kokubo ground out. Yuta Naito followed with an RBI double down the line in left, putting Japan up 2-0.
Shane Robinson (Florida State, So., Tampa, Fla.) cut Japan's lead in half, leading off the top of the fourth inning with a homer down the left-field line. Two batters later, LaPorta tripled off the wall in right-center, but was stranded at third.
Japan added a run in the fifth as Naito provided a two-out RBI single through the left side. Japan added insurance runs in the eighth, scoring four runs, two of which were unearned.
Team USA scratched for a pair of runs in the top of the ninth on a Japan error and an RBI single by Matt Wieters (Georgia Tech, Fr., Goose Creek, S.C.).
Ian Kennedy (Southern California, So., Huntington Beach, Calif.) started for Team USA and suffered the loss. Kennedy (1-1) allowed three runs on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4.2 innings. This was his third career start against Japan as a member of the USA Baseball National Team. Team Japan starter Ohtonari scattered three hits and allowed one run and one walk with 11 strikeouts in 7.0 innings.
The series continues Friday at 10:30 p.m. EDT (11:30 a.m. Saturday in Japan). Games two and three will be played at Kumano Stadium in Kumano, Japan.
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