US beats the Netherlands 6-1 to reach semis of Premier12
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) Zack Segovia gave up one run on three hits over five innings as the United States beat the Netherlands 6-1 on Monday to advance to the semifinals of the Premier12 baseball tournament.
Segovia recorded 15 outs, 10 via groundouts, to improve to 2-0 in the tournament.
Team USA, made up of players not on 40-man major league rosters, took advantage of four errors by the Netherlands in the fifth inning to take a 3-1 lead.
Jacob May had the lone hit in the fifth, an RBI single up the middle to score Elliot Soto, who reached on an error.
Brooks Pounders took over for Segovia in the sixth and pitched four scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while striking out three.
Adam Frazier doubled in a run in the seventh and scored from third on a sacrifice fly by Matt McBride to make it 5-1.
The U.S. added another run in the eighth after Brett Phillips tripled to right field and scored on a sacrifice fly.
''After we scored a few runs and got some momentum we were OK,'' Team USA manager Willie Randolph said. ''That inning snowballed a bit and once we saw they had trouble fielding bunts, we went back to it.''
The U.S. will face Mexico in the semifinals. Mexico scored three runs in the eighth inning for a 4-3 win over Canada.
Japan face South Korea in the other semifinal. Japan beat Puerto Rico 9-3 and South Korea defeated Cuba 7-2.
The semifinals will take place on Thursday and Friday at Tokyo Dome.
