Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Help USA Softball Capture Third U.S. Cup Title
6/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 23, 2003
FRESNO, Calif. - Former Fresno State softball standouts Laura Berg (Santa Fe Springs, Calif.) and Nina Lindenberg (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) helped the USA Softball Women's National Team to its third consecutive U.S. Cup title after going 7-0 in Honolulu this past weekend.
Before traveling to Honolulu, Berg and Lindenberg sparked the USA National Team to a 14-0 victory over Canada when it opened international competition for 2003 in Surrey, B.C., the week before.
Team USA opened the U.S. Cup with a pair of victories on day one as the USA National Team collected an 11-1, 6 inning win over Greece and a 7-0 victory against Chinese Taipei. Playing center field, Berg went 2-3 with a run in the tournament opener. In the night cap, Lindenberg started a two out rally in the third with a double to right field before collecting singles in the fifth and seventh innings. Playing third base, she was a perfect 3-3 at the plate with three runs scored and a walk. Berg went 0-3.
On the second day, Team USA went 2-0 again after recording wins over Greece (13-3) and Canada (12-1, 6 innings). Lindenberg hit a home run with a solo shot to left in the first inning of play before posting a two-run double in the sixth. In the victory over Greece, Lindenberg went 3-5 with a run, three RBI , double and home run. Berg picked up a RBI after going 1-2 with a run in the USA's win over Canada. Lindenberg came into the game as a pinch hitter and then played third base. She went 1-2 with a run, two RBI and hit her second home run of the day. Through the first four games of the tournament, Lindenberg was hitting .700 (7-10).
Outscoring its opponents 43-4 and batting .457 as a team in the first two days of the U.S. Cup, the USA National Team notched 1-0 and 10-0 victories over Chinese Taipei and Canada, respectively. In the win over the Canadians, Lindenberg was the clean up batter and went 1-2 with a run, walk and sacrifice fly after going 0-3 against Chinese Taipei. Berg went 1-2 in the victory over Chinese Taipei.
After clinching the top spot in the gold medal game with a 6-0 round robin mark, the USA National Team wrapped up play with a 6-0 win over Canada to capture its third straight U.S. Cup title. In the championship game Berg was 1-1 while Lindenberg went 0-2 with a run and a walk.
The USA Women's National Team will be back in action on July 5 in Surrey, B.C., for the Canada Cup, which runs July 4-13, and defend its title.
NOTE: Former Bulldog softball standout Vanessa Czarnecki (Riverside, Calif.) guided the Greek National Team to its first international win last weekend in Honolulu. Czarnecki knocked in the first run for the Greek's in their 2-1, 8 inning win over 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Chinese Taipei. The upset win was the first win in the Olympic host short history. With Greece trailing 1-0 going into the bottom of the third, Czarnecki delivered a run scoring single up the middle to make the score 1-1. Greece posted a 1-6 tournament record at the U.S. Cup.
