Olympic Softball 2021 Day 3 Results: USA Continues Undefeated Run

Cat Osterman was dominant again Saturday as Team USA remained undefeated in softball at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Osterman, who pitched six shutout innings against Italy in the Americans' Olympic opener, added six scoreless frames in Saturday's 2-0 win over Mexico. The U.S. moved to 3-0 in the five-game group stage and has yet to allow a run in the tournament.

The third day of competition in softball at the Games also featured Canada scoring a lopsided win over Australia and Japan maintaining its unbeaten record against Italy.

Olympic Softball Day 3 Scores

Canada 7, Australia 1

United States 2, Mexico 0

Japan 5, Italy 0

Softball Group Standings

1. Japan (3-0, +13 run differential)

2. United States (3-0, +5 run differential)

3. Canada (2-1, +9 run differential)

4. Australia (1-2, -12 run differential)

5. Mexico (0-3, -7 run differential)

6. Italy (0-3, -8 run differential)

Day 3 Recap

The U.S. offense hasn't found its stride quite yet, scoring just five runs in three games, but it's been enough to reach 3-0 thanks to the team's strong performances on the mound.

Along with Osterman's 12 scoreless innings, Monica Abbott pitched a seven-inning shutout against Canada in the Americans' second game and picked up the save in each of Osterman's starts, including a clean inning with three strikeouts Saturday.

Both of Team USA's runs in the win over Mexico came in the third inning as Ali Aguilar delivered a two-out single with the bases loaded to bring home Dejah Mulipola and Haylie McCleney.

In the day's first game, Canada kept its hopes of reaching the gold-medal match alive by cruising to victory over Australia.

The Canadians put the game out of reach early with six runs over the first two innings. Jenn Salling and Erika Polidori each drove in two runs to help pace the offensive outburst.

Jenna Caira pitched 4.2 scoreless frames in relief of Sara Groenewegen to pick up the win.

"I have an extreme amount of respect for Australia," Salling told reporters. "They're gritty—they fight, they battle, they compete until the very end. Just a great win for us."

Japan took awhile to break through against Italy as the game remained scoreless after three innings. Yu Yamamoto delivered the game's biggest hit, a two-run homer in the fourth that put the host nation ahead for good. Yamato Fujita added a three-run blast in the sixth to put the contest out of reach.

Fujita also started the game for the Japanese squad, pitching two scoreless frames before passing the torch to Miu Goto, who struck out nine batters over the final five innings to earn the win.

Sunday's softball schedule will feature the U.S. vs. Australia, Italy vs. Mexico and a crucial matchup between Japan and Canada.