United States 3, Japan 0

Tuesday, July 17th 2007, 7:40 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Tairia Flowers homers, Crystl Bustos adds a two-run double and Cat Osterman is all but unhittable as the United States beats Japan 3-nothing in the World Cup of Softball championship game.

Flowers drove Hiroko Sakai's first pitch of the second inning easily beyond the center-field fence, giving Osterman all the offense she needed Monday night to guide the US to its 22nd straight victory and second consecutive World Cup title.

Bustos' double extended the lead in the fifth inning, but only after she fought back from an 0-and-2 count to push it full. Her hard roller bounded all the way to the left-field fence, allowing Natasha Watley and Jessica Mendoza to score.

Japan, the Americans' top challenger in international softball, hit only two balls out of the infield and managed just three hits against Osterman, the left-hander who played at Texas and threw 14-and-two-thirds shutout innings at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Osterman struck out 13, including 10 of the first 13 batters she faced.