Following seven scoreless innings, the U.S. scored two runs in the top of the eighth and held on for the win to capture its second gold medal of the summer in front of a capacity crowd of more than 4,000.
"We always know it's going to be a great game against Japan and that it'll come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes and who capitalizes on plays,” Eriksen said in a release from USA Softball. “I thought that this tournament, being a precursor to hopefully the WBSC World Championships in 2018 and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, had a great show put on by all four teams.