Osterman's No-Hitter Helps U.S. Softball Smother Australia 3-0

Beijing, China (AHN) - Cat Osterman delivered a no-hitter and Crystyl Bustos drilled her second homer in Beijing as the United States shut out Australia 3-0 for its second victory in the Olympics softball event Wednesday at Fengtai Softball Field.

Osterman was untouchable from start to finish to nail the nation's second shutout victory in the quadrennial event.

She did it by whiffing 13 batters while keying in the Americans' 2-0 start in the eight-team competitions.

Bustos made sure that mark will hold up with a two-run blast in the sixth.

It was her second homerun in Beijing after belting another one in the U.S.'11-0 romp over Venezuela Tuesday in the opener.

In a rematch of the gold medal game in Athens four years ago, it was the Americans who showed the way down the stretch.

But Australia's Tanya Harding nearly kept a gut-wrenching match going till the end until Natasha Watley shattered it with an RBI single in the fifth.

Watley sent a 3-2 pitch into shallow center to drive home Lovieanne Jung for a 1-0 lead.

The Americans thus forced a four-way tie at the top of the leaderboard as Canada, China and Japan also eked out victories Wednesday.

The U.S. next faces the Canadians Thursday afternoon, with China also meeting Australia. The Netherlands-Japan and Chinese-Taipei-Venezuela tussles are also scheduled later in the day.

The softball event is making its last appearance in the Olympics, as the International Olympic Committee is phasing out the sport for the 2012 competitions in London.

The IOC says the sport has been largely dominated by only the U.S. and Australia, with no other competing countries making a decent run to challenge the two nations.