OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Valerie Arioto hit a tiebreaking home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to lift the United States to a 2-1 win against the Netherlands on Saturday at the World Cup of Softball.
The U.S. trailed after Nathalie Timmermans homered in the fifth for the Dutch (3-1) in a meeting of the only two teams who had yet to lose in the tournament.
Rhea Taylor reached on an error to start the bottom of the fifth, stole second and eventually scored the tying run on Stacy May-Johnson’s groundout.
Arioto, the Pac-12 player of the year from California, then led off the sixth with her second homer in as many days against Dagmar Bloeming (1-1).
Chelsea Thomas (1-0) threw two scoreless innings of relief to get the win.
