TOKYO, Japan — The U.S. women's softball team came up short in the gold medal game against Japan, taking home a silver medal after a 2-0 loss.
U.S. left fielder Janie Reed, who graduated from the University of Oregon in 2015, nearly hit a home run in the first inning, but got to third on a triple and didn't end up scoring that inning.
In the top of the seventh, Reed made a catch over the wall, leaping into the air to rob Fujita Yamato of a sure-fire home run.
Prior to the Tokyo Olympics, Reed earned a gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games and the 2018 World Baseball Softball Confederation's (WBSC) Women's Softball World Championship.
On Tuesday, Team USA ultimately could not get a score on the board and Japan went on to win its second straight Olympic softball gold medal.
Japan lost 2-1 to the U.S. on Monday in the finale of round-robin play.
This year marked the first time that softball was featured at the Olympics since 2008, when Japan defeated the U.S. in Beijing. Up until 2008, the U.S. had won every softball gold since the sport was introduce to the Olympics in 1996. The U.S. and Japan are the only two softball teams to have captured Olympic gold.
Team USA will have to wait for a rematch because softball is not scheduled to take place at the Paris 2024 Olympics. It may return for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
