Solid if unspectacular Day 8 for Canada at Pan Am Games

Juan Virgen, left, of Mexico, celebrates a point in front of Josh Binstock, of Canada, during men's beach volleyball quarterfinal action at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto on July 18, 2015. Mexico eliminated Canada with a win in straight sets. (Darren Calabrese / The Canadian Press)

TORONTO -- Canada started slow on Day 8 of the 2015 Pan American Games, but the host country rebounded and finished with a solid if unspectacular day.

The men's softball team, cyclist Hugo Barrette and veteran swimmer Ryan Cochrane all won gold medals Saturday to add to Canada's impressive total.

The softball team capped a slow afternoon for Canada with a 2-1 win over Venezuela for their eighth straight Pan Am gold.

Brad Ezekiel provided the heroics with a game-winning two-run home run to left-centre in the sixth inning.

Pitcher Sean Cleary settled down after some early control issues and kept Venezuelan hitters off-balance until the seventh. He gave up a run then but held on.

"We wanted to bring a swagger back to Canada and I think we've done that," Canada coach John Stuart said, adding it was particularly satisfying to win gold on home soil.

"It's history. It's never been done before. That's something these guys can be very proud of," he said.

After Canada completed the final out, Venezuelan players weren't happy about how the Canadians were celebrating and tempers briefly flared.

"That's a shame. It put a damper on our celebration," Stuart said. "That's their problem to deal with. I don't know what happened. I was just trying to get our guys off the field to celebrate and enjoy the moment."

Later, Barrette continued Canada's dominance in track cycling, winning gold in the men's sprint.

The native of Cap-aux-Meules, Que., swept Trinidad and Tobago's Njisane Phillip 2-0 in the best-of-three final. Barrette clinched the victory with a perfectly executed slip move underneath to pass Phillip and take a lead he'd never relinquish.

"I wanted the front, I took the front," he said. "I was confident, I wanted to win for the home crowd."

Canada has five gold medals so far on the track at the velodrome in Milton, Ont.

Canada closed out the swimming competition with four medals Saturday, including a gold for Victoria native Cochrane in the men's 1,500-metre freestyle.

Cochrane set a new Pan Am record by winning in a time of 15 minutes 6.40 seconds.

It's the second gold of the Games for Victoria native Cochrane, who won the men's 400 freestyle on Friday.

The women's 4x100 medley relay team took silver, while Sydney Pickrem earned a bronze medal in the women's 200 individual medley. The men's 4x100 relay added another bronze.

Earlier, Lee Parkhill of Oakville, Ont., won bronze in the men's laser sailing, finishing the race with 12 points.

Vancouver rhythmic gymnast Patricia Bezzoubenko won a bronze medal in the individual all-around competition, holding on to third place despite dropping the ribbon early in her final routine at the Toronto Coliseum.

Bezzoubenko won five gold medals at last year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Winnipeg's Jay Lyon won bronze in the men's individual archery competition, defeating American Zach Garrett 6-0 in the third-place match.

In wrestling, Arjun Gill of Quesnel, B.C., won silver in the men's 97-kilogram freestyle, and Tamerlan Tagziev won bronze in the men's 86-kg freestyle.

There will be more medals on the way for Canada, as the baseball team advanced to the final with a 7-1 win over Puerto Rico.

In women's basketball, Canada beat Cuba 71-68 to set up a semifinal meeting with Brazil.

Here's a complete rundown of how Canada fared on Saturday at the Pan Am Games:

ARCHERY

Men's individual -- Jay Lyon, Winnipeg, won the bronze medal over Zach Garrett, U.S., 6-0.

ATHLETICS

Women's marathon final -- Rachel Hannah, Toronto, finished fourth in two hours, 41 minutes, six seconds. Catherine Watkins, Vancouver, finished ninth in 2:51:23.

BASKETBALL

Women -- Canada (3-0) defeated Cuba 71-68 in its final group B preliminary round game. The Canadians will play in the semifinals on Sunday.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Women -- Canada (Melissa Humana-Paredes and Taylor Pischke), defeated Natalia Alfaro and Karen Cope, Costa Rica, 2-0 in the quarter-finals.

Men -- Canada (Josh Binstock and Samuel Schachter), lost to Rodolfo Ontiveros and Juan Virgen, Mexico, 2-0 in the quarter-finals.

BOXING

Men's light fly (46-49-kg) -- P.G. Tondo, Toronto, lost to Yoel Finol Rivas, Venezuela, 3-0 in the round of 16.

CANOE SLALOM

Men's C1 -- Cameron Smedley, Dunrobin, Ont., qualified from his heat in 91.05 seconds.

Men's K1 -- Ben Hayward, Edmonton, qualified from his heat in 86.85.

Women's C1 -- Haley Daniels, Calgary, qualified from her heat in 176.69.

Women's K1 -- Jazmyne Denhollander, Chilliwack, B.C., qualified from her heat in 105.03.

CYCLING TRACK

Men's sprint final -- Hugo Barrette, Iles de-la-Madeleine, Que., won the silver medal.

FIELD HOCKEY

Men -- Canada (3-0) defeated Mexico 8-1 in the pool B preliminary round.

GOLF

Men's individual -- Austin Connelly, Irving, Texas, shot a two-under 70 in the third round for a total score of 209, four shots back of the lead. Garrett Rank, Elmira, Ont., shot even par-72 and was tied for 20th with a total of 223.

Women's individual -- Lorie Kane, Charlottetown, shot a three-over 75 in the third round and was tied for 20th with a total score of 237.

Mixed team -- Canada (Kane, Connelly, Rank), shot a score of 145 in the third round and was ninth with a total score of 446.

HANDBALL

Women -- Canada (0-2) lost to Brazil 48-12 in the group A preliminary round.

GYMNASTICS RHYTHMIC

Individual all-around final -- Patricia Bezzoubenko, Thornhill, Ont., won the bronze medal with a score of 60.399. Carmen Whelan, Aurora, Ont., finished sixth with 58.791.

Group all-around final -- Canada (Katrina Cameron, Mississauga, Ont.; Maya Kojevnikov, Richmond Hill, Ont.; Lucinda Nowell, Kanata, Ont.; Vanessa Panov, Toronto; Anjelika and Victoria Reznik, both Vaughan, Ont.), finished fifth with a total score of 23.450.

SHOOTING

Women's 50m rifle -- Sharon Bowes, Waterloo, Ont., finished 14th in qualifying and did not advance. Shannon Westlake, Keswick, Ont., finished 18th and did not advance.

Men's skeet -- Jonathan Weselake, Qualicum Beach, B.C., finished 20th after the first day of qualifying. David Mylnikov, Toronto, finished 22nd.

SOFTBALL

Men -- Canada defeated Venezuela 2-1 to win the gold medal.

SWIMMING

Women's 200m individual medley final -- Sydney Pickrem, Oldsmar, Fla., won the bronze medal in two minutes, 11.29 seconds. Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson, Ottawa, finished fifth in 2:14.06.

Women's 800m final -- Brittany MacLean, Toronto, finished fourth in 8:32.06. Tabitha Baumann, Ottawa, finished eighth in 8:48.37.

VOLLEYBALL

Women -- Canada (1-1) defeated Cuba 3-1 in the pool A preliminary round.

WRESTLING

Men's freestyle 74-kg -- Jevon Balfour, Brampton, Ont., lost to Jordan Burroughs, U.S., 11-0 in the semfinals. He will go for bronze later Saturday.

Men's freestyle 86-kg -- Tamerlan Tagziev, Toronto, lost to Reineris Salas, Cuba, 7-4 in the quarter-finals. He will go for bronze later Saturday.

Men's freestyle 97-kg -- Arjun Gill, Surrey, B.C., defeated Marcos Santos, Puerto Rico, 6-1 in the semfinals. He will go for gold later Saturday.

Men's freestyle 125-kg -- Korey Jarvis, Elliot Lake, Ont., defeated Hugo De Oliveira, Brazil, 10-0 in the semfinals. He will go for gold later Saturday.