World Cup of Softball 2015 Results: Friday Scores, Highlights, Latest Standings

The 2015 World Cup of Softball has been going on for four days thus far, and things have started to come into focus before Sunday's final slate of games. 

Not surprisingly, the United States national team is on the verge of capturing the No. 1 seed. The Americans are 5-0 thus far and got a huge win over Japan, which suffered its first loss of the tournament, on Thursday. 

Those two teams are still on pace to meet one more time in the title game, as they have six times in the past nine years. 

Before Team USA and Japan get there, though, they and six other teams have business to take care of Friday at Bill Barber Park in Irvine, California. Here's a recap of the action, as well as a look at the updated standings as games go final. 

Friday Scores

Matchup	Results/Start Time (ET)
Mexico vs. Puerto Rico	Mexico def. Puerto Rico, 4-2
Japan vs. Argentina	Japan def. Argentina, 7-0
Venezuela vs. United States Juniors	U.S. Juniors def. Venezuela, 10-4
Canada vs. United States	Canada def. United States, 4-1

Overall Standings

Pos.	Team	Record
1	United States	5-1
2	Japan	4-1
3	Canada	4-2
4	Mexico	3-3
5	Puerto Rico	3-3
6	United States Juniors	2-3
7	Venezuela	2-4
8	Argentina	0-6

Japan def. Argentina, 7-0

In a matchup featuring one of the best teams in the tournament against the only winless team left, Japan shutout Argentina 7-0 to secure their fourth win in five games. 

Argentina was able to keep the game close, trailing 1-0 after the first inning and 2-0 after the third, but it didn't matter because Japan starter Kana Nakano was brilliant tossing four shutout innings and allowing three hits. 

Japan's offense came out of its shell in the fifth inning, exploding for five runs to take a 7-0 lead that would end the game. Saki Yamazaki provided the final blow with a three-run homer off Argentina pitcher Lindsay Rich. 

China Tsukamoto led off that fifth inning with a solo home run of her own. Japan tallied 10 hits in the game, three of them for extra bases. 

Things couldn't have worked out better for Japan, which was coming off a tough loss against Team USA on Thursday and needing to turn things around. Argentina seemed like the perfect opponent and lived up to that billing. 

The tough stretch will continue for Argentina on Friday, as it has to take on a solid Canada team looking to play spoiler in the final two days. 

Mexico def. Puerto Rico, 4-2

A big sixth inning gave Mexico a critical 4-2 win over Puerto Rico in Friday's opening game at the World Cup of Softball. 

For the first five innings, Puerto Rico appeared to be on cruise control. The team took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third thanks to a wild pitch from Cheyanne Tarango and an error by catcher Sashel Palacios. Puerto Rico pitchers allowed one hit through five innings. 

In the sixth inning, momentum completely changed. Mexico got consecutive doubles from Adriana Perez and Alyssa Villalpando to make it a 2-1 game before the next hitter, Koral Costa, launched a go-ahead home run. 

Mexico would tack on an additional run in the seventh on a leadoff home run from Sierra Rodriguez to pad the lead. Starting pitcher Tarango would close the door on Puerto Rico in the bottom of the seventh, pulling off a complete-game three-hitter to even her team's record at 3-3. 

The loss drops Puerto Rico's record to 3-3 while also giving Mexico an advantage in the standings because of this head-to-head win. That could end up being critical for seeding on the final day of action, though there is still one more day to go before then. 

U.S. Juniors def. Venezuela, 10-4

The U.S. Juniors rebounded well from a Thursday defeat to Puerto Rico, hitting double digits in a 10-4 victory over Venezuela.

The U.S. got the scoring going early, as a triple from Madilyn Nickles plated Sydney Romero in the bottom of the second and then scored on an error by the Venezuela second baseman.

Venezuela scored twice in the top of the third to tie the game, and the United States responded with a four-run fourth inning. Paige Halstead and Kobie Pettis scored on an error, Jenna Lilley drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and Nicole DeWitt scored on a triple from Alyssa Palomino.

Ana Coscorrosa made things interesting in the top of the fifth with a two-run home run, but four more runs for the U.S. in the sixth put the game out of reach for good.

DeWitt was one of the standout offensive performers for the U.S. She was only 1-for-3 at the plate but drove home three runs and scored another two. Nickles and Palomino also drove in two runs apiece.

Also credit Zoe Conley for her two innings of scoreless ball. She didn't allow a hit and walked just one batter on the night.

The U.S. Juniors move to 2-3 for the tournament, while Venezuela fall to 2-4. The former will have a quick turnaround as they get Mexico at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday, and the latter will take on the unbeaten U.S. senior team later in the night.

Canada def. United States, 4-1

The United States suffered their first defeat of the World Cup, losing 4-1 to Canada late Friday night.

Canada's runs all came with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

A walk for Jennifer Yee loaded the bases with two down and Kaleigh Rafter at the plate. Rafter singled, driving home Erika Polidori and Megan Timpf. Another single–this one courtesy of Jennifer Salling—brought Yee and Joey Lye in to score.

It was quite the reversal of fortunes for the United States, who were up 1-0 heading into the fifth and cruising for the most part.

Credit the Canadian quartet of Jenna Caira, Jocelyn Cater, Karissa Hovinga and Sara Groenewegen for limiting the damage done by the U.S. offense. The United States actually had twice as many hits as Canada (eight to four), but the Canadian pitchers scattered those eight hits across all seven innings and never allowed the U.S. to build too much momentum.

Despite the loss, the United States remain the top team at the World Cup. They own one more win than Japan.

Canada are holding strong in third place with a 4-2 record.