Australia ended their 2006 Australian tour on a winning note before heading to Florida to commence their World Baseball Classic campaign
The Nationals dominated on their way to a 8-5 victory over the Asia Champions Chiba Lotte Marines 8-5 today at Geelong Baseball Centre

On a day when Head Coach Jon Deeble and his coaching staff had to evaluate and select the 30-man squad to participate in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, Australia showed the bats didn't fall silent after last night's offensive display

Australia rode nine hits and solid work by their pitchers to end their Australian tour on a high note

Brett Roneberg belted his second homerun in two days and Justin Huber drove in two runs with a base clearing triple en route to the win
Catcher Andrew Graham added two runs batted in of his own in the eighth inning

Australia broke the game open in the fifth inning, scoring three runs with the score 1-1
Import pitcher and former Major Leaguer Kevin Beirne was greeted with a lead-off double by Luke Hughes
Rod Van Buizen walked but was put out on a fielders choice by Paul Rutgers and Hughes advancing to third
Brad Harman singled in Hughes and Huber cleared the bases with a 2-run triple giving the Aussies a lead they wouldn't relinquish

The Aussies would score three more times in the eighth inning off of Korean pitcher Won Jon Chang to make the score 8-1
Chang, from the Lotte Giants of Korea, was wild, issuing four walks and a hit while struggling to get out of the inning
Brett Roneberg, Justin Humphries and Tom Brice all walked to load the bases
Andrew Graham, the Detroit Tiger farmhand, drove in Roneberg and Humphries and Rod Van Buizen hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Brice

Australia however would get a scare in the bottom of the ninth inning when Phil Stockman was unable to lock the game down
Stockman walked three of the first four batters he faced and after getting two strikeouts, relinquished the game to Matthew Gahan, who allowed all three of his inherited runners to score on a pair of wild pitches between a fielding error by Brad Dutton
A run scoring single by Keiyo Aomatsu would tack on another run before Gahan finally got the last out by getting Shoitsu Ohmatsu to ground out to Huber to end the game

Veteran knuckleballer Phil Brassington kept the game tight despite walking four batters and allowing one unearned run

Lights-out relief work by Peter Moylan, Geelong's Kyle Edlich, Josh Hill and Tristan Crawford kept the Chiba bats at bay until the wild ninth inning

Australia, like all 16 participating nations, will release the 30-man roster for World Baseball Classic tomorrow (15 February)

Australia is grouped with Dominican Republic, Italy and Venezuela and will play their games in Orlando, Florida

Australia will face the 2004 MLB World Series Champions Boston Red Sox in a exhibition match on 5th March before commencing their WBC campaign against Italy on 7th March, Venezuela on the 9th and Dominican Republic on the 10th

Australia defeated Asian champion Chiba Lotte Marines 8-5 today to end its domestic baseball tour on a high note before heading off to the US to take part in the World Baseball Classic

Head coach Jon Deeble tomorrow will announce the 30-man Australia squad to participate in the inaugural Classic

Australia is grouped with the Dominican Republic, Italy and Venezuela, and will play its games in Orlando, Florida

Australia will face the 2004 World Series champion Boston Red Sox in an exhibition match on March 5 before commencing its Classic campaign against Italy on March 7
The team then plays Venezuela on March 9 and Dominican Republic on March 10th

Australia defeated Asian champions Chiba Lotte Marines 8-5 to end its local baseball tour on a high note before heading off to the US to take part in the World Baseball Classic

Head coach Jon Deeble will announce the 30-man Australian squad to participate in the inaugural Classic on Wednesday

Australia is grouped with the Dominican Republic, Italy and Venezuela and will play their games in Orlando, Florida

Australia will face the 2004 MLB World Series Champions Boston Red Sox in an exhibition match on March 5 before commencing their WBC campaign against Italy on March 7
They then play Venezuela on March 9 and the Dominican Republic on March 10th