GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- The defending softball champions from the United States are on another roll at the Pan American Games.
The U.S. women, who have won the last six gold medals in softball at the games, are 6-0 so far in Guadalajara and have outscored their opponents 46-6. They beat Canada 12-5 Thursday and close out the preliminaries against Argentina on Friday.
"Our girls have done a great job at adapting and getting through some controversial calls," United States head coach Ken Eriksen said after beating Cuba and Puerto Rico on Wednesday. "We've got one game a day right now for the rest of the tournament and our team has really maintained their composure."
The semifinals are set for Saturday and the final is Sunday.
On Thursday, the U.S. earned its sixth shooting gold medal of the Pan American Games and 12th overall when Glenn Eller won the men's double trap. But Canada came alive as well, winning the mixed doubles and women's singles in badminton, the women's singles in table tennis and the duet in synchronized swimming.
In track cycling, Venezuela and Colombia won all the gold for the second straight day. Angie Gonzalez won the women's omnium and Daniela Larreal won the women's keirin for Venezuela, while Fabian Puerta took the men's keirin for Colombia.
There are nine more gold medals to be won on Day 6 of the Games, with four more in swimming and four in Greco-Roman wrestling. There is also the women's volleyball final between defending champion Cuba and Brazil.
Baseball is entering its second day with 10-time defending champion Cuba facing Canada and looking for its second win.
In softball, the U.S. has again been the team to beat. On Wednesday, the Americans beat Cuba 3-0 and then defeated Puerto Rico 4-1.
After a pair of 10-0 wins over Venezuela and the Dominican Republic and a 7-0 rout of Mexico, the women finally had a couple of close games -- actually being stretched to the regulation seven innings.
American tennis player Irina Falconi advanced to the women's tennis final early Thursday, beating Florencia Molinero of Argentina 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals.
"There were a lot of ups and downs for both of us, a lot of changes in momentum," Falconi said. "I think I could've served better, could've been a bit more consistent. But against these players it's never easy."
In Friday's final, Falconi will face Monica Puig of Puerto Rico, who beat American Christina McHale 7-6 (2), 6-4.
Comments