SYDNEY, Australia -- Australia cruised by Philippines, 11-1, on a seven run seventh inning, which prompted the mercy rule on Thursday in the World Baseball Classic Qualifier at Blacktown International Sportspark

James Beresford led the way for Australia, going 4-for-5 from the dish with three RBI as the leadoff hitter. In his third World Baseball Classic event, the 27-year-old helped back the outstanding pitching. 

"He's a great player," Australia manager Jon Deeble said of Beresford. "He's been in professional baseball for 11 years. He hit .300 in Triple-A. We just want him to get a chance in the big leagues because he is such a bloody good player. Hopefully, that is this year."

While Australia got the win, they did not start off with the lead. In the top of the first inning, Brady Conlan of Philippines singled on a line drive up the middle to score Eric Farris and give his team a 1-0 edge. 

Philippines starting pitcher J.R. Bunda was removed from the event in the third inning due to a right elbow strain. He took the loss by giving up two runs (one earned run) on four hits and two walks across 2.1 innings pitched.  

"I thought Bunda did a fantastic job. He was a little bit of an unknown for us, but he had thrown some really great bullpens," said Philippines manager Tim Hulett. "If we knew how great his sinker was -- most of the balls that were hit hard were his secondary pitches."

Australia tallied two runs before the host increased the lead 4-1 due to a two RBI double from Trent Oeltjen to left field, scoring Sefan Welch and Luke Hughes. The double chased former big league left-hander Clay Rapada from the mound. 

Steven Kent, the winning pitcher, struck out seven batters across 6.0 innings of work for Australia. The 26-year-old gave up one run on four hits and a walk. Kent signed a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves this January. 

"I thought Kent was outstanding tonight," Deeble said. "That first inning he really battled, and he started changing speeds in the third or fourth inning. We were looking at the fifth inning, and we thought if we could just squeeze that sixth inning out ... he got through that, and that was big for us."

Beresford, Brad Harman and Welch all drove in runs during the seventh inning. Welch came up with the biggest RBI over the three as he doubled in Beresford and Mitch Dening to shove Australia ahead, 9-1. The last two runs for Australia scored off of a throwing error by Conlan, Philippines third baseman, to make it an 11-1 game. 

Peter Moylan, a newly-signed relief pitcher for the Kansas City Royals, struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the mercy rule victory for Australia. 

It’s always hard to come out in these competition games; the first game is really important,” Beresford said. “All the boys knew that from the get-go and we put some good at-bats together to start, and obviously Steve Kent had an outstanding game, which got us off to a good start. Now we prepare for tomorrow and hopefully put another good performance up there.” 

The Aussies (1-0) will face South Africa (1-0) at 3:30 AM ET on Friday, with right-hander Warwick Saupold from the Detroit Tigers organization taking on South Africa right-hander Carl Michaels.

"[It is] not going to be easy -- Australia in their own backyard, a lot of experience, a lot of depth in every area of their game. We're going to probably run out some of the younger staff out there and try and regroup and be ready for whatever happens and whatever takes place on Saturday," said South Africa manager Alan Phillips.

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Evan Petzold
Evan Petzold is a Detroit-based journalist with expertise in covering the Tigers, Pistons, and Red Wings. A member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) and Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association (DBSA), he brings a unique skill set in reporting and broadcasting to the table.