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Aug. 28, 2009

DURHAM, N.C. - Former University of Louisville right-handed pitcher B.J. Rosenberg is among the 23 players selected to represent the United States at the 2009 International Baseball Federation (IBAF) Baseball World Cup in Europe from Sept. 9-27.

Players eligible for selection were those not currently on 25-man Major League Baseball (MLB) rosters. The 2009 World Cup is the 38th installment of the IBAF's biennial world championships. Team USA is the defending World Cup champion, having defeated Cuba, 6-3, in the 2007 final in Taiwan. It was the first World Cup title for the U.S. since 1974.

"I'm extremely proud of what B.J. has accomplished in professional baseball in such a short period of time and he has certainly earned the honor of representing Team USA at the Baseball World Cup," said Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell. "He is the epitome of a college student-athlete and why kids go to college. He earned his degree, won a BIG EAST Conference title and pitched in the NCAA Tournament while playing big-time college baseball here at the University of Louisville, which prepared him for the challenges of professional baseball. He really flourished in pitching coach Roger Williams' system here at U of L and he's continued to improve in the Phillies' organization with an outstanding summer."

Rosenberg, taken in the 13th round as the 406th selection of the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2008 MLB Draft, was a standout pitcher for the Cardinals from 2004-08 leaving a lasting mark on the Louisville record books. Rosenberg, who earned All-BIG EAST Third Team honors in 2008 as a key contributor for the Cards' BIG EAST Tournament champion and NCAA Regional squad, is second in career starts at Louisville with 47, fourth in career wins with 18, fourth in career innings pitched with 306.2, seventh in career strikeouts with 212 and seventh in career saves with nine.

After spending most of his summer pitching for the Lakewood Blue Claws, the Class A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, Rosenberg was called up to the Class AA Reading Phillies of the Eastern League in the first week of Aug. Since then, the Vine Grove, Ky., native has three saves with a 2.35 ERA in 7.2 innings of work. Overall, Rosenberg is 7-3 with 22 saves and a 1.09 ERA in 58.0 innings in 2009 for Lakewood and Reading.

Before being called up to Reading, Rosenberg was 7-2 with 19 saves and an impressive 0.89 ERA in 50.1 innings for Lakewood and he did not allow an earned run in his final 28.2 innings of work for the Blue Claws dating back to May 31. Rosenberg departed Lakewood with his 19 saves in a season second only to Jared Simon's 30 in 2008. He produced the third lowest ERA (0.89) in team history behind Cole Hamels (0.84 in 2003) and George Rodriguez (0.80 in 2001).

About the IBAF World Cup
Twenty countries will begin IBAF World Cup competition in five groups of four teams, with the top two from each group advancing to the second round (the top-four third-place teams also advance). Once there, they will be joined by Italy and the Netherlands - the two hosts of Round 2 - to form a 16-team quarterfinal. The top-eight teams from the quarterfinals advance to the third round, which will be held exclusively in Italy, where they will be split into two pools and advance to the finals based on best pool-play record. The U.S. will kick off World Cup play on Sept. 10 in Regensburg, Germany in Pool E and will be joined by China, Germany and Venezuela. In addition to Regensburg, the World Cup will also feature first round pool play in Barcelona; Prague; Sundbyburg, Sweden; and Zagreb, Croatia.

The World Cup Team will first gather in Cary, N.C. at the USA Baseball National Training Complex where it will train from Sept. 2-6. It will work out on Sept. 2 and square-off against the Canadian World Cup Team Sept. 3-6.