• Box Score: USA 4, Japan 1

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Drew Maggi picked a good night Wednesday to show signs that he's ready to bust out of a slump.

The infielder from Arizona State led the U.S. national team to a 4-1 victory over the Japanese Collegiate All-Stars before 3,167 at Rosenblatt Stadium. Maggi tripled, doubled, walked twice and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

“He showed what he can do tonight,'' U.S. manager Bill Kinneberg said. “He's our guy. All through trials, that's how he played. He's one of the toughest guys I've ever seen on a baseball field.

“He struggled last week against Korea, so it was really good to have him on base four times. He can disrupt the other team's defense, and it's really important that he gets on base.''

Maggi came into Wednesday's game hitting .091 (2 for 22) in the U.S. team's first eight wins. He got things started by leading off the bottom of the first inning with a triple to right-center field and scoring on Nolan Fontana's groundout.

Maggi made it 2-0 in the second with his sacrifice fly, and the Americans bumped it to 3-0 later in the inning on an RBI single by Jackie Bradley Jr. The U.S. team scored its final run in the eighth on a bases-loaded passed ball.

In between, Maggi walked in the fourth and stole second and hustled his way to a double in the sixth on a hit into left-center field. He finished off his night with a walk in the eighth.

“I haven't been doing too well, but tonight I was just focused on pitch to pitch,'' Maggi said. “Yeah, I've been struggling but I've been hitting some balls hard right at people. Tonight, I just tried to battle every pitch and I came out on top.''

Even though he was having difficulty getting on base, Maggi said, he never got down.

“I've been playing this game for 21 years, and I can't tell you how many times I've had a bad week,'' he said. “It's baseball, and it's going to happen to everyone. The great ones bounce back. If you can't bounce back, you're in the wrong game.''

Maggi and his teammates managed to collect 11 hits off Japanese pitcher Takayuki Fujii, who threw a 143-pitch complete game. Fujii also walked six and hit a batter, but the U.S. team was unable to get the big hit to get him out of the game.

“Our pitcher stayed competitive throughout the game,'' Japan manager Takasi Kodama said through an interpreter. “He did a great job for our team.''

When asked if his team had ever faced a pitcher comparable to U.S. starter Gerrit Cole, Kodama's answer needed no interpretation.

“No,'' he said emphatically.

The hard-throwing UCLA right-hander pitched six strong innings, scattering six hits and striking out seven to pick up the win. Japan scored its only run in the fourth when Takasi Ikusima followed a two-out single by Ryunisuke Kobayasi with a double to left-center field.

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com