SYDNEY – So much for needing some offense to win the gold medal in softball. Team USA won its second straight Olympic gold medal with one of the weakest offensive outputs it ever mustered.

It didn’t have a .300 hitter on the squad, cranked out a team batting average of .172 over 10 games, had two hits in an inning only once in the medal round and when the chips were down in the final game, banged out only one hit to support the fine work of Lisa Fernandez on the mound.

But who needs offense when you get the breaks to fall your way? The gold medal-winning run was scored when Japan’s left fielder backpedaled on a fly ball instead of turning and running back to make the catch. When she tripped over her own feet and dropped the ball, Team USA had its gold medal.

The team is not apologizing for the effort in any way.

“You make your own breaks,” said pitcher Michele Smith, who knows a things about tough breaks. She didn’t give up an earned run during the Olympics but still compiled an 0-2 record. “We have to hit the ball hard and when you do, you force the other team to make the plays.”

The fly ball muffed by Japan in the eighth inning is just the sort of break Smith is talking about.

Light-hitting Laura Berg is usually a slap hitter. But head coach Ralph Raymond told her to swing hard because of the conditions the game was being played in.

“It had rained a lot before the game, so the ground was soft and the footing wasn’t the best,” Berg said. “I was looking to hit the ball hard to make them make the play.”

Earlier in the Olympics, the breaks weren’t falling for Team USA.

In the first game against China, they left 22 runners on base. Every time they needed a key hit, they would drill the ball right at someone or have a fielder make a spectacular play.

They knew the law of averages had to play out.

Of course it doesn’t hurt to have great pitching when your offense goes south, and Team USA has that.

Their pitching kept them in the games until the offense did – or didn’t – come around. Or until the breaks started falling their way.