Brandon Dieter pitched eight scoreless innings, as the USA Baseball 18U National Team beat Australia, 9-0, on Saturday at Port Arthur Stadium in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Team USA closed out the Super Round at the 2017 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup with its fifth shutout and 15th consecutive win, which dates back to 2015.
Team USA remains the only undefeated squad in this year's tournament, with an 8-0 record, and will play as the home team in Sunday's Gold Medal game against Korea at 5 p.m. ET.
Dieter faced just three batters over the minimum and didn't allow a hitter past first base. He finished the day allowing three hits while striking out eight batters. Joseph Menefee pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the game.
Team USA will carry a combined 0.53 ERA into Sunday's Gold Medal game, with opposing batters hitting just .136. The team's five shutouts equal the total for the other 11 teams in the tournament combined.
Offensively, the U.S. was terrific with two outs -- recording seven two-out hits and scoring all but two of its runs with two outs.
Five different players had multi-hit contests, while Alek Thomas and Nolan Gorman each drove in a pair of runs. Team USA also added five stolen bases against Australia, including two by Gorman, to increase its tournament-leading total to 23 in just eight games.
Team USA is the three-time defending World Cup champion and is looking to become the second country to win four consecutive gold medals in the tournament.