The second major international matchup of the day was between Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. With Japan already a winner, they awaited the loser of this game and the winner would be moving on to play Korea in the first game of the elimination round. It was Puerto Rico whose bats stayed hot and took home an 8-3 victory.
Scoring was at a premium in the beginning of the game. Cesar Lopez singled in the top of the first to give Puerto Rico a 1-0 lead but the Bahamas would tie it up in the bottom half when Andru Arthur scored on a pass ball.
Puerto Rico would gain some breathing room in the top of the second when they scored three times on back-to-back doubles by the Gonzalez boys, Jandaniel and Bryan. This pair combined to go 5-6 at the plate with three doubles and four RBIs.
The big blast for Puerto Rico came off the bat of Eric Correa who crushed a no doubt two-run homer in the top half of the third. Correa got two RBIs on the play but also contributed the best bat flip of the tournament so far. This put his team up 6-1 and they would never look back.
“I didn’t have a good first at bat,” Correa said. “I just wanted to have a better turn and get a pitch I could drive.”
John Nieves had a solid outing for Puerto Rico as he tossed four innings, giving up three runs on two hits and striking out eight. Arthur gave him fits all game though as he went 3-3 with a double, an RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases.
Puerto Rico will prepare to play Korea in their first game of the elimination round while the Bahamas will be faced with the tall task of taking on Japan.
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