Softball: White Sox close to beating men's side

The New Zealand women's softball captain Fiona Timu and pitcher Ali Arnold took their team within sight of a first win on their brief tour of Indonesia.

Timu hit a triple while Arnold snatched 12 strikeouts against in the White Sox' 3-4 loss against DFI Jakarta, a regional men's selection team. It was a tight game from start to finish for the White Sox with the scores locked at 1-1 for the opening six innings.

The game came alive in the final inning when the home side picked up three runs in the top of the seventh.

Down by three runs and with only one at bat left in the game, New Zealand staged a determined fight back. Led by the triple from Timu and some consistent hitting, the White Sox pegged back two runs in the final inning but the comeback was ended by a spectacular catch in right field from the home team to win the game.

Arnold faced 33 batters and gave up 11 hits and four runs while taking 12 strikeouts. The world championship begins in Beijing, China, on August 27.