Cavill shines in international play

WKU Athletics photo Blake Cavill takes an at-bat for Western Kentucky last year.

Troy Trojans first baseman Blake Cavill has been a crucial piece of Team Australia’s offense in the U23 Baseball World Cup in Shaoxing, China. Australia went 3-2 over five games, and Cavill was a crucial part of the offense.

In the tournament, Cavill holds a 1.198 OPS and a .429 average hitting from the cleanup spot.

Cavill went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI in Australia’s thrilling tournament-opening victory over Columbia, and he made a few 90 plays at first base.

In his first at-bat of the tournament, Cavill launched a 1-2 pitch deep to center field, just missing a home run and settling for an RBI triple instead.

Cavill reached on aninfield single in the third inning before smoking a single to right-center field during the pivotal fifth inning. Team Australia scored two runs in the frame to break the tie – Cavill came around to score on a bases-loaded walk, handing his team the lead.

The left-handed batter, who transferred to Troy from Western Kentucky this offseason, took a walk and a hit-by-pitch in the win over Puerto Rico and was held in check by Japan in a 4-1 loss.

In a high-scoring 13-12 victory over Great Britain, he went 2-for-2, also drawing a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Cavill crushed an RBI double to center field in the second inning and followed it up with a single in the third.

The Australian offense scored 13 runs in the first four innings against Team GB.

Sitting one win away from moving on to the super round, Australia was upset by China.

Pitcher Zhao Wei spun six innings of one-run ball to hold Australia’s offense in check.

Cavill led off the seventh inning – Australia’s last chance in the shortened tournament games – with an infield single after a gritty at-bat. However, Australia was unable to manufacture the runs needed to win.

Australia plays three more games, looking to compete in placement games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Team Australia and Cavill look to rebound in the games and score some more runs.