Shaw Brings Home Second Career WBSC World Cup Bronze Medal

PRINCE ALBERT, Saskatchewan – Mississippi State softball assistant coach Zac Shaw and the United States' Men's National Team defeated Japan on Sunday to claim their second consecutive WBSC Men's Softball World Cup bronze medal. The Americans also won bronze at the 2022 WBSC Men's World Cup, which snapped a 22-year medal drought.

Shaw started in all six games while serving as Team USA's captain. He was perfect defensively in 17 chances, and he has not made an error in 21 career WBSC World Cup games. His last error on the international stage came at the 2022 Pan American Championships.

Offensively, the Odessa, Missouri, native collected two RBIs, bringing home a run with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch against Australia to open the tournament and opening the scoring in Team USA's 11-1 win over the Dominican Republic with a sacrifice fly. He also stole a base against the Aussies.

The Americans, who entered the tournament as the No. 6 team in the world, narrowly missed out on the gold medal game. In the opening round they dropped a one-run ballgame to Japan after entering the bottom of the sixth with a 4-3 lead. That set them up as the second-place team from Group B entering the Super Round where they would need to find a pair of wins to reach the gold medal contest.

In the Super Round, Team USA led eventual silver medalist New Zealand 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh before the Kiwis hit a walk-off three-run homer. There was still a slim chance that the Americans could advance to the championship game with the help of some tiebreaker scenarios, but they dropped a 6-4 decision to eventual world champion Venezuela to close the Super Round.

The bronze medal game was all Team USA, however. Despite falling behind 1-0 in the third, the Americans scored 10 unanswered runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to bring home their second medal in as many World Cups.

Shaw joined the staff at Mississippi State in the fall of 2022 as a volunteer assistant before being elevated to a full-time role prior to the 2024 season. He works primarily with the Bulldog infielders and assists with hitting where he played a key role in helping Sierra Sacco transition from a slapper to an All-American power hitter in 2025 before she was drafted to play professionally in the AUSL.

In August, men's softball will return to The World Games 2025 – the only global multi-sport event that includes men's softball – in Chengdu, China, on August 6-10. Shaw and Team USA will begin that event in Group B alongside Australia, Canada and Singapore. Argentina, Czechia, Japan and Venezuela make up Group A.

For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."

Mississippi State University Athletics

Shaw Brings Home Second Career WBSC World Cup Bronze Medal

Players Mentioned

Sierra Sacco

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