TOKYO – Three pitchers, including LSU right-hander Alex Lange, combined to throw a three-hit shutout while TJ Friedl (Nevada) reached base four times and scored the game’s only run as the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team picked up a 1-0 victory over Japan at historic Meiji Jingu Stadium on Friday.
The win is Team USA’s first of the series after dropping the first two contests by one run each. The U.S. will give the ball to right-hander Kyle Wright (Vanderbilt) in game four as it looks to even the series. The game will be played at Kusanagi Stadium in Shizuoka with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. local time/4:30 a.m. CT on Saturday. Game five will be played in the same place the following day at 6 p.m. local/4 a.m. CT.
Friday’s game was a gem for anyone who enjoys pitching and defense as each squad provided plenty of both. For the U.S., Lange and Brendan McKay (Louisville) fired four shutout innings each before Tyler Johnson (South Carolina) pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his second save of the summer.
Lange, who will begin his junior season at LSU this fall, entered the game to start the fifth inning in relief of McKay and delivered a dominating performance, limiting Japan to one hit in four shutout innings with one walk and five strikeouts.
“Today was a tremendous game for our defense,” said Lange, a product of Lee’s Summit, Mo. “They made big plays in big situations to help our pitchers out and the offense was able to do just enough today. My hat is off to the Japanese team, it played a great game but it feels good to get that first win of the series out of the way.
“The Japanese hitters take a lot of good at-bats,” Lange continued. “They foul off a lot of pitches that back home we would get swings and misses on. They are tough outs in the box and I think it speaks for itself what Japan’s pitching staff has been able to accomplish so far. We are just trying to match them and hold them to as few runs as possible.”
Japan utilized four pitchers who combined to strike out 16 batters in the contest while yielding just five hits.
Two of those hits belonged to Friedl, the U.S. leadoff hitter, who reached base in four of his five plate appearances and filled up the box score with a pair of walks, two stolen bases and the game’s only run.
After laying down a perfect bunt for a base hit to open the top of the third, he promptly swiped second and came around to score when Jeren Kendall (Vanderbilt) roped an RBI double to left.
That would be all Team USA would need with McKay, Lange and Johnson putting zeroes up in all nine innings.
Japan did mount a bit of a threat in the bottom of the ninth when leadoff hitter Takuya Sato pulled a one-out double down the line in right but Johnson was able to get the next batter looking and Kendall made a nice play to run down a long flyball in deep center to seal the victory.