Just wanted to share my joy...Can I say enough how much I love watching them play!!!!

Two games into the 2008 Olympic softball tournament, the United States has yet to allow a run.

Which would be impressive, were it not for the fact the USA hasn't given up a hit, either.

Left-handed starter Cat Osterman held Australia hitless over seven innings Wednesday at Fengtai Softball Field, a day after fellow pitchers Monica Abbott and Jennie Finch didn't allow a hit during a five-inning thumping of Venezuela.

While the group effort on Wednesday was more a box-score quirk than a memorable achievement, Osterman's was a legitimate no-no thrown against a longtime force in international softball.

Osterman struck out 13 in the 3-0 victory, and those who did make contract were unable to drove the ball beyond the infield.

"I wasn't paying attention to the no-hitter until the end," said Osterman, who in real life works as the pitching coach for DePaul University's softball team. "In the seventh inning I kind of got the feeling of what was going on. I saw the scoreboard."

And yet, as overpowering as Osterman's pitching was, you can't win if it you don't score, and the USA didn't score until second baseman Lovie Jung took charge in manufacturing a fifth-inning run on a two-out stolen base that her walk off Aussies' starter Tanya Harding.

Natasha Watley's single drove home Jung to break the scoreless tie, and a two-run homer off the bat of Crystal Bustos provided further cushion for Osterman in the sixth inning.

"The key for us is getting in scoring position," said USA catcher Stacey Nuveman. "When Lovie stole that base in the fifth inning, we finally capitalized."

"Key to the game," agreed coach Mike Candrea. "What you saw today - how we put ourselves position to score a run - was a function of team speed.

"The one thing we're developing with this team is overall speed," Candrea continued. "I'm assuming we're gonna be in some close games, and base-running really make a big difference when you get into a close game and all you're looking at is getting yourself into position to score and getting a key hit."

Putting the game in motion is a tactic that distinguishes the 2008 tournament favorites from the powerhouses American that won gold medals for he USA in 1996, 2000 and 2004. Their three steals against Australia gave them five in two games, and still another dimension to a deep and versatile batting attack.

"Speed never takes a day off," said Candrea. "It's always there, and you use it to do a lot of things to put pressure on a defense. When you're aggressive, when you're dragging the defense laterally, you're opening up holes for the hitters."

Speed, power, a pitching staff that hasn't allowed a hit, a winning streak of 16 games in the Olympics, an overall Olympic record of 26-4 . . .

It would seem USA softball has everything - well, everything except a future in Olympic competition beyond Beijing

"After the games are over, we'll worry about that," said Osterman. "Right now, we have a gold medal on our minds. We're out there on the field, that that's the only thing that's going through any of our minds."