USA drops game to Chinese Taipei

USA Baseball Release

CARY, NC— Wei-Hua Lee (2-0) pitched a complete-game, seven hitter as Chinese Taipei (2-3) scored two runs in the top of the seventh to defeat Team USA (8-2) 3-2 on Monday morning. Lee struck out four and walked one. The five-game series continues in Kannapolis, NC on Tuesday at 7 p.m. after the U.S. won the first three games.

The American bullpen blew a one-run lead in the seventh when Josh Romanski (0-1, San Diego) put two runners on and Joe Kelly (UC Riverside) walked the bases full Kelly then gave up a two-run single to Ying-Chien Liao to give CTBA a 3-2 lead.

Reliever Jordy Mercer (Oklahoma State) kept the game to within one, getting three consecutive outs after Kelly walked two straight to begin the inning.

Back-to-back RBI singles by Brett Wallace (Arizona State) and Petey Paramore (ASU) gave the Americans a 2-1 lead in the fourth.

The Taiwanese took a 1-0 lead in the first off of Ryan Berry (Rice) on an RBI double from Chien-Ming Su. Berry was making his first start for Team USA since pitching for Rice in the College World Series. Berry went the first six innings, giving up one run on four hits, using just 68 pitches.

TEAM NOTES
Taiwanese starter Wei-Hua Lee was making his second start on the American tour. He gave up one run on five hits in CTBA’s first game on Thursday... the team’s start time of 10 a.m. is the second earliest start of the season. They play host Brazil on the third day of the Pan American Games at 9 a.m.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Chinese Taipei series closes out in Kannapolis, NC (July 3) at 7 p.m. The 10-game North Carolina home stand continues with Japan on July 4, beginning a five-game series in Durham, NC (July 4, 6, 7, 8) and Kannapolis (July 5).