US warms up for Japan rematch, beating Canada 15-0 in most lopsided win against northern rival

US routs Canada 15-0 in warmup for Japan rematch

OKLAHOMA CITY — Natasha Watley hit a grand slam, and Andrea Duran and Jenae Leles also homered as the U.S. routed Canada 15-0 at the World Cup of Softball on Saturday for its most-lopsided victory against its northern rival.

Duran and Leles each hit three-run home runs as the Americans (3-0) warmed up for a rematch later in the day against Japan, which beat the U.S. 3-1 in the gold medal game at last summer’s Beijing Olympics.

The Americans jumped on starter Leah MacIntosh (0-1) for five runs in the first and added nine more in the third. The game ended after four innings because of the mercy rule.

It was the fifth meeting between the teams in two weeks, and the U.S. had to come from behind in two of its previous four victories against Canada (2-1).

The Americans topped their 14-1 victory at the 1991 Pan-American Games for the largest margin in the series.

After back-to-back RBI singles by Jennie Finch and Leles, Duran broke the game open by smacking a three-run homer well over the fence in left-center field.

Reliever Marissa Litster then got herself into trouble by walking three straight U.S. batters before Watley lined a 2-2 pitch over the fence in right to make it 9-0. The Americans tacked on five unearned runs after third baseman Megan Timpf couldn’t handle Kaitlin Cochran’s two-out grounder, capped by Leles’ third three-run blast in three games.

Leles is 7 for 8 with three homers and 11 RBIs in three World Cup games.

Monica Abbott (1-0) struck out seven and allowed only two singles.

Jennifer Yee homered and Jennifer Caira threw six strong innings in relief as Canada overcame a three-run deficit.

Italy had a 3-0 lead in the first inning when the game was suspended Thursday night due to an approaching storm, but the Canadians took control after play resumed Saturday morning.

Sheena Lawrick tied it with an RBI triple in the bottom of the third and then scored on Evelyne Pare’s single to make it 4-3.

Yee added a solo shot in the fourth inning. Caira (2-0) allowed two hits and one unearned run.

Kate Gentile hit a three-run homer for Italy (0-4), which is playing in its first World Cup.