NAGOYA, Japan — Samurai Japan opened its 2024 Premier12 tournament with a 9-3 victory against rising baseball nation Australia. A crowd of 30,691 at the Vantelin Dome Nagoya cheered all night as Japan’s relentless offense scored in all but two innings. Australia put up a good fight, coming within two runs of tying it up in the 6th, but Japan didn’t let the game get away from them and regained their composure to finish the job.
Starting Lineups
Japan
SP Haruto Inoue
Australia
SP Lewis Thorpe
Leading off the game, 2024 first overall MLB draft pick Travis Bazzana took a full count fastball from Yomiuri Giants southpaw Haruto Inoue into center field for a base hit in his senior national team debut. Australia moved him along to third but couldn’t cash in.
Masayuki Kuwahara worked a walk against Lewis Thorpe in the bottom of the 1st before Kaito Kozono singled up the middle past the diving reach of Bazanna at second. Rakuten Eagles outfielder Ryosuke Tatsumi hit a sacrifice fly out to left to give Japan the early lead.
Ryosuke Tatsumi with a sacrifice fly and Samurai Japan strikes first! pic.twitter.com/yvYJZD4fvl
— Jeff Duda (@INTLBaseball24) November 13, 2024
Manager Dave Nilsson was prepared to go to the bullpen early and pulled the plug on Thorpe after just two outs in the 1st. Sam Holland came in to face Shugo Maki, inducing an inning-ending groundout.
In the 2nd, the Samurai loaded the bases on base hits by Kotaro Kiyomiya and Shogo Sakakura and another walk by Kuwahara, leading to Holland’s exit. Lefty Blake Townsend entered for a favorable matchup against Kozono, but he managed to hit an RBI fielder’s choice to first to double Japan’s lead.
Australia made a handful of defensive mistakes in the third as Robbie Glendinning couldn’t come up with a hard hit grounder to short and they were slow to turn a potential inning-ending double play. A third run crossed the plate when a wild pitch by Mitch Neunborn with two outs allowed Shota Morishita to score.
The fielding woes continued in the 4th with Jon Kennedy on the mound as Glendinning threw the ball away to home with runners on second and third, allowing two more runs to score.
🇯🇵🔥LHP Haruto Inoue on fire early on, striking out Australia's Travis Bazzana to end the top of the 3rd inning, Inoue's fifth in the game. #Premier12 || @Premier12 | @samuraijapan_pr pic.twitter.com/lZkIw523PO
— WBSC ⚾🥎 (@WBSC) November 13, 2024
It was smooth sailing for Inoue through five innings, striking out eight batters, including Bazzana, on a 93 mph fastball to end the 3rd. In the 4th, Aaron Whitefield — who has eight games of MLB experience — reached on an infield hit but was picked off to end the frame.
Haruto Inoue’s 8 Ks tonight
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) November 13, 2024
After no. 9 hitter Ulrich Bojarski homered to left-center and Bazzana singled in the 6th, Lotte Marines side-winder Rikuto Yokoyama entered in relief. But he also failed to keep the ball in the park as first baseman Rixon Wingrove crushed a dead-center bomb to get the Aussies within two.
🇦🇺🎆Australia brings out the fireworks in the sixth inning. Rixon Wingrove with a long two-run home run to make things interesting. #Premier12 || @Premier12 | @TeamAusBaseball pic.twitter.com/ehAiHWi92y
— WBSC ⚾🥎 (@WBSC) November 13, 2024
Veteran Tim Atherton pitched a scoreless 6th for Australia, but Shoma Fujihira retook the momentum for Japan in the next half-inning for Japan by striking out the side on 13 pitches. “I feel like I’m back to mid-season form,” Fujihira said after the game. “I focus on elevating my fastball and throwing my splitter down.”
Morishita led off the bottom of the 7th with a double against Coen Wynne, Ryoya Kurihara got him to third on a groundout, and Maki lined an RBI hit into center field to extend Japan’s lead to 6-3. “It’s international play, so it’s difficult to find your timing against pitchers you’ve never faced before,” Maki said. “But I think I prepared well for that at-bat, and it led to a good result.”
Shugo Maki with an RBI single and Japan takes a 6-3 lead pic.twitter.com/r57VwdMl5K
— Jeff Duda (@INTLBaseball24) November 13, 2024
In the 8th, Fujihira’s teammate Sora Suzuki threw a 1-2-3 inning (including a K against Bazzana). Will Sheriff started the 8th but lasted just two pitches. Morishita and Kurihara each hit RBI doubles off Josh Guyer, who recorded the save against Korea in Australia’s historic 2023 WBC upset to put Japan up 9-3. Steven Kent, Australia’s 12th arm of the night, came in to finish the frame.
🇯🇵💪Shota Morishita gives Japan some insurance in the 8th with a two-run double, capping a strong day at the plate with his third hit of the night#Premier12 || @Premier12 | @samuraijapan_pr pic.twitter.com/Oaxei485hO
— WBSC ⚾🥎 (@WBSC) November 13, 2024
Extra loud cheers could be heard for Chunichi Dragons reliever Tatsuya Shimizu in the 9th as he struck out the side in front of his home fans. “It was supposed to be Taisei,” Shimizu commented, as the game was still a save situation until the bottom of the 8th. “But I started to get ready when it looked like we would add on. I’m happy I got to pitch in front of my home fans at Vantelin Dome Nagoya.”
Japan and Australia will fly to Taiwan to play out the rest of their Group B matchups. They will have an off day tomorrow for travel before hitting the field again on Friday.
