Softball at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Softball
at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
Softball; at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Softball Stadium
Dates	14 – 23 August 2004
Competitors	120 from 8 nations
Medalists
	← 2000 2008 →

Softball was a women's sporting event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Games were played at the softball stadium in the Helliniko Olympic Complex from August 14 to 23. The United States won the gold while Australia took silver and Japan received bronze.

Softball was one of the three sports at the 2004 Athens Olympics that was for women only along with Synchronized Swimming and Rhythmic Gymnastics. Eight teams competed for the gold medal in only the third appearance of softball at the Summer Olympics. The softball competition featured 120 athletes.

Japanese pitcher Yukiko Ueno threw a perfect game—the first at an Olympics’ softball competition—in a preliminary round match against China.^[1] The United States dominated the overall competition, winning all seven of its preliminary matches and defeating Australia twice in the medal round.

Medalists

In one of the most dominating runs in softball history, the United States team led by head coach Mike Candrea won the gold medal by defeating Australia 5-1 in the championship game on August 23. It was the first time in 9 games that an opponent scored a run against Team USA. Crystl Bustos hit two home runs to provide all the run-support that pitcher Lisa Fernandez required. Fernandez pitched all six innings, picking up her second win against Australia in as many days. She also won the semi-final game.

Throughout the tournament Team USA outscored its opponents 51-1. Team USA won the Olympic gold medal in softball for the third straight time.

Australia's silver medal marks its best result in Olympic softball history. Japan earned the bronze medal after defeating China in the semi-final, and losing to Australia in the Bronze medal game.

Participants

Australia (AUS)
Canada (CAN)
China (CHN)
Greece (GRE)
Chinese Taipei (TPE)
Italy (ITA)
Japan (JPN)
United States (USA)

Results

Starting August 14, there were four preliminary games each day until August 20 for a total of 28 games. Two semi-final games were played August 22, with the game for third place following later that day. The final game for the gold medal was played on August 23 at 4pm local time.

Standings

Team	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	Pct
United States	7	7	0	41	0	1.000
Australia	7	6	1	22	14	0.857
Japan	7	4	3	17	8	0.571
China	7	3	4	15	20	0.429
Canada	7	3	4	6	14	0.429
Chinese Taipei	7	2	5	3	13	0.286
Greece	7	2	5	6	24	0.286
Italy	7	1	6	8	24	0.143

Preliminary round

August 14


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Australia	0	1	0	2	1	0	0	4	7	0
Japan	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2
WP: Tanya Harding (1-0) LP: Yukiko Ueno (0-1) Home runs: AUS: N.Titcume in 4th, 1 RBI JPN: None


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Italy	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	0	3	2
United States	1	3	0	0	3	-	-	7	11	0
WP: Jennie Finch (1-0) LP: Leslie Malerich (0-1)


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Chinese Taipei	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
Canada	0	0	0	2	0	0	X	2	5	0
WP: Lauren Bay (1-0) LP: Wu Chia-Yen (0-1)


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Greece	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6
China	0	1	1	0	3	0	X	5	5	1
WP: Lu Wei (1-0) LP: Sarah Farnworth (0-1)

August 15


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Chinese Taipei	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4
Japan	1	4	0	0	1	0	X	6	13	0
WP: Sakai Hiroko (1-0) LP: Lin Su-Hua (0-1) Home runs: TPE: N.Titcume in 4th, 1 RBI JPN: None


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Italy	0	6	0	0	0	0	1	7	9	3
China	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	5	5	1
WP: Jennifer Spediacci (1-0) LP: Li Qi (0-1)


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Australia	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	0	1	0
United States	2	0	0	8	X	-	-	10	9	2
WP: Lisa Fernandez (1-0) LP: Brooke Wilkins (0-1) Home runs: AUS: None USA: Stacey Nuveman in 4th, 3 RBI


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Canada	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	4
Greece	0	1	0	0	1	0	X	2	3	0
WP: Sarah Farnworth (1-1) LP: Kaila Holtz (0-1)