The Netherlands defeated Australia 4-1 Tuesday in Taiwan and advanced to the second round of the World Baseball Classic tournament. With a complete team effort and exceptional outing from their starter, Robbie Cordemans, the Netherlands cruised to victory finishing at the top of Pool B.
Cordemans was practically unhittable and was incredibly efficient. He went five innings allowing two hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Australia was able to get hits off Netherlands' pitching, but they could never come up with the big bomb to get on the scoreboard.
On the contrary, while every Netherlands player got a hit except for ninth place hitter Randolph Oduber, Jonathan Schoop provided the big hit that stretched the Netherlands' early lead. Schoop came on in the second inning with a man aboard and sent a liner into left field that soared over the fence. The two-run shot was a part of a three-run second inning for the Netherlands.
That's all they needed.
Now they await to see who from Pool B will advance to the second round with them. Korea just defeated Chinese Taipei, but the Koreans will be eliminated from contention. Taipei will take first place and the Netherlands finish in second in Pool B.
Up ahead, they advance to the second round in Tokyo where they will be in a bracket along with powerhouses Japan and Cuba. The second round of the tournament starts on Friday, March 8.
WBC Action Tonight
The only game on Wednesday will be a very good one as Cuba and Japan meet at 5 a.m. ET in Fukuoka.
Check back to Sports World Report as we will continue to provide coverage and live streams for these WBC matchups.
