The University of Mississippi Athletics
Pomeranz Pitches Team USA To World Baseball Challenge Title
7/27/2009 | Baseball
PRINCE GEORGE, British Columbia - Left-hander Drew Pomeranz held a no-hitter into the seventh inning and picked up the win for Team USA on Sunday as the American team claimed the World Baseball Challenge with an 8-1 victory over Germany.
Pomeranz worked 7.0 innings and allowed one run on one hit with two walks and 12 strikeouts. With two outs on the board in the sixth, Pomeranz gave up the first hit of the game. He was named to the All-Tournament team.
With the win, Team USA improved to 19-5 on the summer and Pomeranz pushed his record to 4-1 with a 1.75 ERA as he struck out a team-high 48 and walked only nine in 25.2 innings of work.
Germany got on the board in the first inning on no hits. Pomeranz put two runners on board with a hit batsman and a walk before a sacrifice bunt moved them to second and third. Ludwig Glaser followed with an RBI groundout to second base for the 1-0 lead.
Blake Forsythe (Tennessee) tied the game in the bottom of the second with an RBI single and the U.S. took the lead in the bottom of the third inning when Rick Hague (Rice) hit an RBI single up the middle and Michael Choice hit a solo home run over the left field fence.
Tyler Holt (Florida State) brought in Forsythe and Brad Miller (Clemson) with an RBI double to the right centerfield fence and Kolten Wong (Hawaii) hit an RBI single to score Holt for a 6-1 lead in the fourth. Grandal and Bryce Brentz (Middle Tennessee State) followed with back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning to extend its lead to 8-1.
Nick Peptione (Tulane) and Chad Bettis (Texas Tech) closed out the game for the U.S.
Germany starting pitcher Marcus Winkler pitched three innings, giving up three runs on seven hits with no strikeouts. Rene Franke pitched one inning of relief giving up five runs.
Choice, Gerrit Cole (UCLA), Grandal (Miami) and Pomeranz were named to the all-tournament team as top players at their positions. Choice also collected the Home Run Hitting Award with three and Hague received the Best Hitter Award as he ended the tournament with a .474 batting average and two home runs.
