Canada players celebrate a good inning against Puerto Rico during a World Cup of Softball game in Oklahoma City, Sunday July 1, 2012. Canada won 7-0.Brett Deering/The Associated Press
Canada's national women's team swept its doubleheader on Sunday to secure a spot in the bronze medal game of the US World Cup of Softball VII.
The Canadians had lost its first three games of the tournament before beating Puerto Rico 7-0 in five innings and then defeating Brazil 13-0 in four innings.
The two wins moved Canada (2-3) into fourth place in the round-robin portion of the tournament. The Canadians will take on the Netherlands (3-2) on Monday.
Australia and the United States will play for gold.
In the first game against Puerto Rico, Canada opened the scoring by putting up six runs in the bottom of the second inning.
Saskatoon's Jenny Gilbert had a one-out single, followed by a double by Carey-Leigh Thomas of Ohsweken, Ont. Toronto's Joey Lye then hit a single to score Gilbert, and an error on the play allowed Thomas to score and Lye to move up to second.
Natalie Wideman of Mississauga, Ont., drew a walk, and both runners advanced by tagging on a fly ball.
Toronto's Victoria Hayward then drove Lye in with a single and Megan Timpf of Port Dover, Ont., scored two runs with a single of her own to give Canada the 6-0 lead.
Canada would later add a run in the bottom of the fifth inning as Lye forced a two-out walk, stole second and scored on a double by Wideman to end the game on the run-ahead rule.
Toronto's Jenna Caira earned the five-inning win by allowing two hits and a walk and striking out seven batters.
Against Brazil, Canada scored eight runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Hayward led off the game with a single and advanced to second on an illegal pitch, and immediately scored on a single by Lye, who was sacrificed to third and then scored on an illegal pitch.
After Calgary's Sheena Lawrick and Heather Ebert of Rosthern, Sask., both walked, Thomas smashed a double to bring both runners in to score. Thomas then scored on a single by Saskatoon's Erin Cumpstone. Timpf and Hayward singled to load the bases, and Joey Lye also singled to bring in Thomas from third.
Melanie Matthews of Surrey, B.C., then drove a two-run single to give Canada the 8-0 lead.
Canada did not stop coming in the second, as they put up another five runs. Gilbert led off with a solo home run, and Canada loaded the bases on a single by Ebert, an error and a walk.
Hayward and Wideman were both hit by pitches to bring in two runs before Matthews smacked a two-run double to increase the lead to 13-0.
Brazil was unable to score any runs in the top of the third and fourth, giving Canada the four inning run rule victory.
Pitcher Jocelyn Cater of Delta, B.C., was excellent and earned the four inning win, limiting Brazil to only one hit and two walks with seven strikeouts.