2009 World Cup AUS v ITA
Australia reversed the disappointment of their narrow loss to Chinese Taipei on Wednesday with a dramatic 5-4 'walk-off' win again tournament hosts Italy in Parma overnight.
The victory moves
The win was made even more impressive as the Aussies faced a 4-0 deficit after just two innings; before they came back to tie the game on centre-fielder Nick Kimpton's solo home run with two-outs in the bottom of the 4th inning.
The score remained deadlocked at 4-4 over the next four frames thanks in large part to the brilliant relief work from giant Aussie hurler Dushan Ruzic (SA).
Head Coach Jon Deeble was impressed by his club's tenacity in the come from behind victory.
"We knew the Italians were going to be desperate for a win against us tonight, and to their credit they came out swinging the bats really well," he said.
"I didn't expect to be chasing 4 runs that early, but Ruzic did an outstanding job to keep us in it and allow the offence to fire."
Ruzic, who stands at 205cm, was dominant over the final seven innings for
Ruzic's compatriot Liam Hendriks got off to an uncharacteristic rough start to the game, giving up four runs on seven hits; representing the first time the young righty had been troubled in the World Cup thus far.
On offence it was a well balanced attack from the Aussies with Chris Snelling, Luke Hughes, Daniel Berg and James beresford all tallying multiple hits on the night to go along with singles from Tim Kennelly, Joel Naughton and Kimpton's mammoth blast.
But is was former major leaguer Chris Snelling who became the hero for the Green and Gold when he singled to deep centre with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th (his 3rd hit of the game); driving in Berg and securing a vital win for Australia.
With three games remaining in the second round,
The Aussies face reigning World Champions the
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