Baseball World Cup Pool G, Bologna:
USA – Australia 4-3
AUS 010 000 200 3 6 2 USA 000 002 101 4 9 1
In the duel for the number one seed in Pool G of the 2009 Baseball World Cup, Trevor Plouffe decided the outcome in the bottom of the ninth. He sent a 1-2 pitch over the left field fence at the stadium in Bologna to lead Team USA to a 4-3 victory over Australia. With the victory they improved to 7-0 in the second round and will take three wins into third round, which starts on Tuesday. Australia advances with a 5-2 record.
The defending world champion had to overcome deficits of 0-1 and 2-3 to hold down the Aussies. The silver medalist of the 2004 Olympics took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, when Timothy Kennelly was caught stealing between first and second and Luke Hughes crossed the plate. The Americans came back in the sixth, tying the contest on a solo shot by Justin Smoak, his ninth homerun of the tournament. Three batters later Josh Kroeger scored on a RBI fielder’s choice by Jon Weber to make it 2-1.
In the top of the seventh Australia regained the lead thanks to a throwing error by third baseman Pedro Alvarez and a sac fly by Daniel Berg. But it lasted only for a few minutes, as Plouffe evened the score with a RBI groundout in the bottom of the same frame. Two innings later he ended the match with his big hit.
David Welch (AUS) gave up six hits, two runs (1 ER) and two walks in six innings, while striking out five. Cory Luebke (USA) issued five hits, three runs (1 ER) and a bb in six-plus innings. Ehren Wasserman (W 1-0) picked up the win, Timothy Cox (L 0-1) took the loss.