World Baseball Classic: Team USA advances to quarterfinals with win over Colombia

Team USA is through to the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic after a 3-2 win over Colombia on Wednesday, making up for a major stumble against Mexico with back-to-back wins.

The Americans will officially finish second in Pool C at 3-1, tied with Mexico but losing the head-to-head tiebreaker. They will face Venezuela in the quarterfinals in Miami on Friday (FS1).

U.S. captain Mike Trout came through with all three of his team's RBIs, going 3-for-4 with a triple on the night. The go-ahead hit came in the fifth inning, with the Los Angeles Angels star knocking in Will Smith and Mookie Betts to take a 3-2 lead.

The American bullpen held from there, with Kendall Graveman, Daniel Bard, David Bednar, Jason Adam, Devin Williams and Ryan Pressly all throwing scoreless innings after starter Merrill Kelly allowed two runs in the third.

Advancing to the quarterfinals might have felt inevitable given the strength of the U.S. lineup, but the team was in a tenuous position after a rough 11-5 loss to Mexico in its second game. The U.S. found itself needing to beat both Canada and Colombia, with a bizarre tiebreaker looming if they lost on Wednesday.