FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 5th, 2022

USA SOFTBALL COMES TO PEACOCK TONIGHT WITH LIVE U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM DOUBLEHEADER BEGINNING AT 6 P.M. ET

World-Ranked No. 1 Team USA Faces No. 8 Australia at 6 p.m. ET Followed by Rematch of Tokyo Olympics Gold Medal Game vs. No. 2 Japan at 8:30 p.m. ET

STAMFORD, Conn. – July 5, 2022 – USA Softball comes to Peacock tonight as two U.S. Women’s National Team exhibition games will be presented live exclusively on Peacock beginning at 6 p.m. ET from Choccolocco Park Oxford, Ala.

Streaming live exclusively on Peacock, the world-ranked No. 1 U.S. WNT will take on No. 8 Australia at 6 p.m. ET before heading into a highly anticipated Olympic rematch against No. 2 Japan at 8:30 p.m. ET. Japan topped the U.S. last summer in the Tokyo Olympics gold medal game. The U.S. has won consecutive Olympic silver medals – both times behind gold-medal winning Japan (2008, 2020).

Eric Frede will handle play-by-play duties for both games alongside analyst Michele Smith, the two-time Olympic gold medalist (1996, 2000) and former collegiate All-American pitcher at Oklahoma State.

The WNT faced Australia and Japan in a doubleheader yesterday, winning both games with a 7-1 victory over Australia and 3-0 win vs. Japan. Outfielder Amanda Lorenz, a three-time first-team All-American at the University of Florida (2017-19), led the WNT with a combined 5-for-6 performance and two home runs yesterday. Team USA pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts in the two victories, featuring starting pitchers Kelly Maxwell of Oklahoma State, who made her national team debut in Game 1, and Ally Carda, a back-to-back Pac-12 Player of the Year at UCLA (2014 and 2015), in Game 2. Two-time Olympian and softball legend Monica Abbott came in in relief to close out Game 2 with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

During the exhibition games in Oxford, the 17-player World Games roster will include two additional USA Softball WNT members from the Canada Cup and Japan All-Star Series rosters to assist with training efforts leading up to the World Games. Joining the squad will be Baylee Klingler and Maxwell.

Leading the Red, White and Blue is Head Coach Heather Tarr (Head Coach at Washington) alongside previously named World Games assistant coaches Cindy Ball-Malone (Head Coach at UCF), Tony Baldwin (Head Coach at Georgia) and Tim Walton (Head Coach at Florida). Also joining the World Games coaching staff in Oxford are recently announced Canada Cup and Japan All-Star Series assistant coaches Jimmy Kolaitis (Assistant Coach at ASU), Brian Kolze (Head Coach at Pacific) and Mike Steuerwald (Head Coach at Gaston College).

The two matchups are part of Team USA’s training schedule ahead of the 2022 World Games, which will signify as the 2022 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Cup, slated for July 9-13 in Birmingham, Ala. The full exhibition game schedule in Oxford, Ala. can be found on USASoftball.com.

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