Sunday's World Cup of Softball finals saw the top two teams in the world, the United States and Japan, match up at OGE Energy Field in Oklahoma City.

The game was a pitcher's duel after both teams scored in the first inning. The U.S. struck first when Haylie McCleney reached base on an error. She later scored when Kelsey Stewart doubled to left field. Japan responded in the bottom half of the first inning when leadoff hitter Yu Yamamoto was walked by Jaclyn Traina. She scored from second after an infield single to tie the game 1-1. 

Japan's pitcher Yukari Hamamura was lights-out for the remainder of the game, and retired the next 13 batters. She faced a dangerous situation in the fifth when Delaney Spaulding hit a line-drive screamer into left field with one out. Spaulding stole second on a strikeout, then found herself on third after a passed ball, which put the go-ahead run in scoring postion. Hamamura composed herself and struck out Janie Takeda to end the inning. 

In the bottom of the fifth, Japan took a one-run lead. Lead-off batter Saki Yamazaki reached first on a single. She advanced to second when Rira Yamashita hit her own single. The bases were loaded when reliever Delanie Gourley hit Misada Kawano with a pitch. Pinch runner Hitomi Kawabata scored off a Eri Yamada sacrifice fly. 

The U.S. rallied one last time in the seventh by loading the bases with only one out, but Japan held on to end the inning without giving up a run.

The young U.S. team showed a lot of promise, and head coach Ken Eriksen had nothing but praise for his squad when speaking with media after the game. 

"I was very proud of the fact that we had young kids step up this week; we didn’t panic, and sometimes the difference between a gold and silver is a fingernail," Eriksen said. "I think when you take a look up and down our lineup, everybody can hit it well. We’ve got rookie pitchers out here that are moving in the right direction. I can’t wait for us to get to the Worlds and get started."

With the loss, the United States earned silver at the World Cup for the third time, while it was Japan's third time earning gold.