OKINAWA, Japan – Aiden Ruiz had three hits and Gio Rojas tossed four shutout innings as Team USA beat Panama, 9-0, in the first game of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup on Friday morning at Okinawa Cellular Stadium.

Team USA (1-0) has now won its last 10 World Cup openers dating back to 2008.

Rojas faced some adversity immediately in Friday’s contest after a leadoff walk and a balk put a runner in scoring position with no outs in the first. But the southpaw battled through a 10-pitch at-bat to coax an inning-ending double play, getting out of the jam and settling in for the next three innings. He passed it on to Kaden Waechter and Cole Koeninger, who combined to get the final nine outs.

At the plate, it was Ruiz who opened the scoring in the third with his first of three hits. The U.S. shortstop’s RBI single gave Team USA a 1-0 lead and a three-run fourth extended the advantage to four. Will Brick and Jorvorskie Lane Jr. followed with RBI singles of their own and Ruiz capped a four-run fifth inning with another RBI knock, putting the game out of reach.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Singles by Grady Emerson and Coleman Borthwick put runners on base for the U.S. right out of the gate in the first inning, but Panama (0-1) starter Jose Serva picked up two big outs to keep the game scoreless.
• Rojas worked around a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first, leaning on his defense which helped him escape the early jam with a fielder’s choice and double play.
• Jacob Lombard drew a walk to begin the top of the third and came around to score the opening run on Ruiz’s RBI single to right field, giving the stars and stripes a 1-0 lead.
• Team USA displayed patience at the plate in the fourth; two hit-by-pitches, a single, and two walks plated two runs, and Emerson capped the frame with a sac fly as the U.S. lead became four.
• After Rojas surrendered two consecutive singles to begin the bottom of the fourth, the southpaw got some help from backstop Brick who threw a runner out trying to steal before Rojas finished off the inning unscathed.
• Brick sent a ground ball to left field past a drawn-in infield to bring home Borthwick and make it 5-0 in favor of the United States in the fifth.
• A balk gave Team USA its sixth run and Lane Jr. followed with a bloop hit to left to extend the lead to seven in the fifth. A walk and hit-by-pitch then loaded the bases for Ruiz, who delivered his second RBI hit of the day to give the U.S. an 8-0 lead.
• Anthony Murphy drew a one-out walk in the sixth and later scored when Andrew Costello singled through the left side to give the United States its ninth and final run.
• Koeninger took the hill in the seventh and found immediate trouble when a leadoff walk and infield hit put two runners in scoring position with no outs. But the righthander settled in and got a strikeout, shallow fly out, and pop out to finalize the 9-0 win for Team USA.

NOTABLES

• Nine of the 10 U.S. players who had an at-bat in Friday’s game had at least one hit, led by Ruiz’s three. Lombard and CJ Sampson both drew two walks.
• Murphy was in the middle of all the offense in the win, picking up a hit, a walk, and scoring three runs.
• Team USA put the ball in play all game long and only struck out three times.
• The trio of Rojas, Waechter, and Koeninger scattered six hits and issued only two walks. All three pitchers recorded at least one strikeout.
• Team USA improves to 27-2 all-time against Panama at the U-18 level. The stars and stripes have won six of the seven World Cup meetings and haven’t dropped a game to Panama since 1999, good for a 23-game win streak.

QUOTABLES

“We did what we had to do. The team morale is great right now. We’ve got more work to do, and I know our team is going to come through.” - Aiden Ruiz

ON DECK

Team USA is back in action on Saturday for a matchup against Chinese Taipei. First pitch for the contest is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. JST/5:30 a.m. ET from Nishizaki Stadium in Okinawa, Japan.