Eliminated Korea beat Australia to close out Premier12

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Eliminated Korea beat Australia to close out Premier12

Published: 19 Nov. 2024, 07:58

Korea's Kim Do-yeong watches the ball after hitting a two-run home run against Australia during a Group B game at the WBSC Premier12 at Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei on Monday. [YONHAP]

Korea defeated Australia 5-2 in its final game of the WBSC Premier12 in Taipei on Monday, closing out the competition on a winning note after it had already been eliminated from title contention the previous night.

Star third baseman Kim Do-yeong crushed his third home run of the tournament and drove in four runs as designated hitter on the rainy day at Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium in the teams' final Group B contest, with seven relievers holding Australia to two runs after starter Ko Young-pyo threw 3 2/3 shutout innings.

With the top two countries advancing to the Super Round starting later this week in Tokyo, Korea finished in third place at 3-2.

Japan and Chinese Taipei grabbed the two tickets out of Group B to the Super Round by winning their respective games Sunday, knocking Korea out in the process.

Korea lost its opening game 6-3 to Chinese Taipei on Wednesday. Following that loss, Korea beat Cuba 8-4 on Thursday but then fell to Japan 6-3 the following day. A 9-6 win over the Dominican Republic on Saturday kept Korea's hopes alive, before Japan and Chinese Taipei took care of business Sunday.

Korea failed to cash in after loading the bases with one out against starter Tim Atherton in the bottom second, with Kim Hyung-jun popping out to first and Choi Won-jun striking out swinging.

Korea's Kim Seo-hyeon heads to the dugout after pitching a scoreless eighth inning against Australia during a Group B game at the WBSC Premier12 at Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei on Monday. [YONHAP]

But Korea got on the board in the bottom third against new pitcher Steven Kent. After Hong Chang-ki singled to begin the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, Kim Do-yeong brought him home with a single to center.

Korea tacked on two more runs in the top fourth against the third Australian pitcher, Josh Guyer.

A walk and a single had runners at first and second for Shin Min-jae, who hit a soft grounder to first baseman Rixon Wingrove. But Wingrove made an errant toss to Guyer covering the bag, and as the ball hit the top of the pitcher's glove and skipped into the foul territory, Park Seong-han scored from second to put Korea up 2-0.

Kim Do-yeong then singled off a first-pitch curveball for a 3-0 lead, knocking Guyer out of the game.

Australia got their first run in the top fifth when Travis Bazzana drew a bases-loaded walk against reliever Choi Seung-yong. Then in the top sixth, Liam Spence delivered an RBI single to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Kim Do-yeong then took matters into his own hands, restoring a three-run lead for his team by smoking a two-run home run off Sam Holland in the bottom sixth.

Korean starter Ko Young-pyo pitches against Australia during a Group B game at the WBSC Premier12 at Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Taipei on Monday. [YONHAP]

Ko atoned for his poor outing against Chinese Taipei with 3 2/3 innings of one-hit ball. And the bullpen kept the door closed in the late innings.

So Hyeong-jun worked a clean seventh inning and struck out two batters, before Kim Seo-hyeon followed with a scoreless eighth. Closer Park Yeong-hyun then struck out the side in the ninth inning after throwing 14 straight fastballs.

Kim Do-yeong finished the tournament with team-high totals of three home runs and 10 RBIs.

Manager Ryu Joong-il thanked fans for cheering on the team in rainy conditions even with Korea already out of the tournament.

"It feels good to win the final game in front of these fans. I can't thank them enough," Ryu said. "I think we lost the battle of starting pitchers here. We'll have to address this and other issues before the World Baseball Classic, which is our next big tournament in about 15 months' time. Our young players here did a great job."

Ryu carried a youthful 28-man roster to Taipei, with 18 players being 25 or younger, with an eye toward the WBC and the 2028 Olympics.

Yonhap