World Cup of Softball 2015 Results: Saturday Scores, Highlights and Standings

Saturday is the key day of action at the World Cup of Softball. It's the final day of games in which teams can improve their standing with a win or lose ground with a loss before Sunday's final four games are seeded. 

Things took an interesting turn Friday, with Canada defeating the United States. That loss by Team USA opened the door for Canada and Japan to meet in the championship game as the top two seeds if they win Saturday and the Americans lose to Venezuela.

All that any sport can ask for down the stretch is drama. This year's softball tournament is providing that, with three must-win games on the schedule that will directly impact what happens Sunday. 

Here's how things played out Saturday, starting with the results from games and updated standings.

Results

Matchup	Result/Start Time (ET)
Japan vs. Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico def. Japan, 3-2
Mexico vs. United States Juniors	U.S. Juniors def. Mexico, 10-3
Canada vs. Argentina	Canada def. Argentina, 1-0
Venezuela vs. United States	United States def. Venezuela, 7-0
Japan vs. United States Juniors	Japan def. U.S. Juniors, 7-2

Standings

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

Canada def. Argentina, 1-0

Taking on the only winless team at the World Cup of Softball, Canada was able to keep its title hopes alive with a 1-0 victory over Argentina. 

Both starting pitchers were terrific, but Jenna Caira had a little more for Canada on this day than Lindsay Rich. Caira allowed three hits and struck out seven with no walks in the complete game.  

Rich went the distance herself, though she was more erratic with eight hits allowed and three walks over six innings. Her biggest mistake came in the bottom of the fourth inning when Erika Polidori blasted a solo home run to center field. 

Argentina never really threatened in the game, only advancing one runner to second base who only got on to begin with thanks to an error by Canada shortstop Jennifer Salling. Caira did give up a one-out single in the top of the seventh, but Argentina was unable to convert. 

Canada's run is done and it will now await to see what happens in Japan's game against the United States junior squad later this evening to determine its fate. 

United States Juniors def. Mexico, 10-3

The United States junior team rode two big innings en route to a 10-3 victory over Mexico, setting up a big showdown later on Saturday with Japan. 

Early on, this seemed like Mexico's game to lose. It came out of the gate with a two-run first inning and would tack on an additional run in the top of the fourth to take a 3-0 lead. Starting pitcher Estela Pinon didn't allow the U.S. to get a hit through three innings. 

Everything changed in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Pinon lost all command of the strike zone with two walks and a hit by pitch to load the bases. The Americans would score three runs off Pinon without recording a hit, finally breaking through with the bats against reliever Cheyanne Tarango. 

Tarango would give up seven runs on seven hits in 1.2 innings before the game was stopped. Nicole DeWitt provided the final blow with a three-run triple in the fifth inning. 

U.S. pitchers Kelly Barnhill and Johanna Grauer weren't great, combining to allow three runs on eight hits in five innings, but they did enough to keep their offense in it before the onslaught began. 

With the win, Team USA moved its record back to .500 and has a chance to play a massive spoiler in tonight's clash with Japan. 

Puerto Rico def. Japan, 3-2

The sixth day of games got off to an interesting start, with Puerto Rico upsetting Japan 3-2 to put the Japanese team's hopes of reaching the championship game in doubt, though it does catch a break, as this is its day to play two games.

Japan started the day with a 4-1 record, having the same number of losses as Team USA. The loss gives the Japanese team the same record as Canada, though Japan's 3-2 win over the Canadiens on June 30 gives it an edge in the tiebreaker. 

As a result, Japan's game against the United States junior team to close out play Saturday will be huge if Canada is able to take care of business against Argentina. 

In terms of how Puerto Rico pulled off this win, a three-run third inning, which was punctuated by a two-RBI single from Yahelis Munoz Cardona, propelled the offense. Japan did respond with a run in the bottom of the third. 

The score would remain 3-1 until the bottom of the sixth when Saki Yamazaki hit a sacrifice fly to pull Japan within one run. The scoring would end after that point, as Meghan King shut the door for Puerto Rico with a 1-2-3 seventh inning. 

With the win, Puerto Rico moves over .500 and puts itself in line for a shot to play in the No. 3 vs. No. 4 game Sunday.  

United States def. Venezuela, 7-0

The United States blanked Venezuela as Sara Nevins and Jaclyn Traina combined for a no-hitter over five innings. The duo struck out six and walked just two as they stymied the Venezuelan hitters at every opportunity.

With a pitching performance like that, the U.S. didn't need much offense, but they got it from plenty from Valerie Arioto and Annie Aldrete. The two drove in five of the United States' seven runs.

The Americans got the scoring going early, with Valerie Arioto bringing home Raven Chavanne in the bottom of the first. Maria Gomez then walked home a run in the bottom of the third to double the United States' advantage.

The floodgates opened from that point forward as the U.S. dropped two more runs in the fourth, followed by a two-run homer by Aldrete and RBI single by Janie Takeda.

It's the United States' sixth win of the tournament, and they remain at the top of the standings. They have booked their place in Sunday's gold medal game.

Venezuela, meanwhile, can only finish as high as seventh. They'll play Argentina, who have yet to win at the World Cup, on Sunday.

Japan def. United States Juniors, 7-2

Japan rebounded well from their earlier defeat Saturday to beat the United States Juniors and earn a place in the gold medal game against the U.S. senior team.

With Canada's 1-0 victory over Argentina, the Japanese had to beat the U.S. Juniors in order to book their spot in the championship. Their head-to-head win against Canada ensured that they'd get the edge in the event the two countries finished with the same record.

Japan knew the stakes and delivered a strong performance. They scored in each of the first five innings, opening up more and more space over their opponents.

Haruna Furusawa and Mikiko Eguchi finished with two RBIs apiece in what was a great demonstration of manufacturing runs. Japan had only one extra-base hit on the night but excelled small ball. They had three sacrifice hits and three fielder's choices, which helped work the runners around the bases.

According to GameChanger, Japan had 62.07 percent of quality at-bats. That figure was almost 20 percent higher than that of the U.S. Juniors.

The U.S. Juniors will have to settle for fifth or sixth for the World Cup. They take on Mexico on Sunday to determine the fifth-place finisher.