Samurai Japan clobbered the United States and clinched a quarterfinal berth at the Premier 12 in the process.
Sho Nakata, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo and Nobuhiro Matsuda stepped up offensively and Japan scored nine runs across the sixth and seventh innings of a lopsided 10-2 victory over the U.S. at Taoyuan International Stadium on Saturday night.
The quarterfinals will be played on Monday. Japan, which has now secured first place in Group B, will face the fourth-place finisher from Group A.