Team USA steamrolls Canada at Women's Baseball World Cup qualifiers with 23-0 win

Team Canada's perfect record at this year's Women's Baseball World Cup came to an abrupt halt on Thursday night.

The United States national team got on the board early, and didn't let up, defeating Canada 23-0 at Port Arthur Stadium (the lead triggered the tournament's mercy rule, ending the game after five innings of play).

"We had some good at-bats, we made some defensive blunders, we fell behind in some counts, but like I said earlier, somebody's gotta win, sombody's gotta lose," Canada head coach Anthony Pluta said after the game. "We learned some things today. The girls got to experience an electric crowd, something they've never seen before."

"They got that out of the way, they'll be ready for [Friday]."

Pluta's choice to use the word "electric" when describing Thursday night's crowd was certainly appropriate. Port Arthur Stadium was nearly packed for the matchup, and the fans were rowdy. Chants of "USA! USA!" regularly spilled out from the third base stands, where the American fan contingent had gathered.

Canada's fans kept up, however, cheering in their red-and-white jerseys from the opposite side of the stadium, along the first base line.

On the field, things took off for the Americans relatively quickly, with the team scoring one run in the first inning and two in the second.

Both teams were kept scoreless in the third, but Team USA blew the game open in the fourth, scoring 10 runs, with four of those coming courtesy of a grand slam by Olivia Pichardo.

The United States added another 10 runs in the fifth, including three from a home run by Kelsie Whitmore.

"It's always a great game against Canada," said USA manager Veronica Alvarez. "We come full-force, we don't underestimate any of our opponents, especially