Seoul (Korea). Korea stunned Team USA 8-2 on Saturday afternoon at Jamsil Stadium to earn their second win at the XXV IBAF 18U Baseball World Championship. The host kept the opposing bats cold all game, after the Americans had scored 17 runs on Friday. They took the lead in the third and never looked back, blowing the contest open with four runs in the sixth.

The key hit of the game probably was a bases clearing double by Dae Young Song highlighting a four-run rally in the sixth, which turned a one-run gap into a commanding lead. The United States had their best chance to come back in the eighth. But Cavan Biggio, the son of future Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, grounded into an inning-ending double play in the eighth, leaving three men stranded.

Otherwise American batters didn’t get things going even though they had a good start with a RBI single by Jeremy Martinez in the first. However afterwards they only managed just one more run on a RBI single by Christian Arroyo in the fourth. Korea instead had no trouble scoring on the afternoon, led by Woo Sung Lee, who went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Seung Ho Kang also crossed the plate twice.

On the mound Su Min Lee headed four Korean pitchers overall, which issued just seven hits and no walks all game. They also hit four batters. Lee received the win, surrendering just two runs on four hits in five innings, striking out three.

Keegan Thompson got the nod for the United States. He couldn’t match his performance from the Gold Medal Game at the IBAF 16U Baseball World Championship in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico last year, where he shut out Cuba en route to the championship. He was charged with five hits, three runs (1 ER) and two walks in three innings to take the loss.

Team USA lost a couple of players with injuries. Catcher Christopher Okey was injured during a collision on a pop out in foul territory in front of the Korean dugout in the bottom of the fourth. Reese McGuire replaced him in the fifth. Reliever Ian Clarkin suffered a hand injury while pitching in the sixth.