U-23 Baseball World Cup – Games 4-6: Venezuela, Korea, Panama victorious on Day 1

MONTERREY, Mexico – Day 1 of the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup® 2016 is complete, following the Official Opening Ceremony and all 12 nations in action.

World No. 7 Venezuela started the afternoon with defeat over South Africa, while No. 3 Korea and No. 15 Panama won evening games against the Czech Republic and host Mexico, respectively.

Game 4: Venezuela 14, South Africa 1

Venezuela scored four times in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back as they defeated No. 36 South Africa, 14-1, in a game that was completed after the top of the seventh due to the 10-run rule.

Venezuela starting pitcher Alvaro Josue Lugo Chirinos yielded just one run on seven hits and struck out five in five innings of work to get the win.

Francisco Javier Martinez Vazquez went 4-for-4 and drove in three runs, while teammate Jonathan Xavier Linares Rivas hit a two-run home run as part of a four run first inning to pace the Venezuela attack.

South Africa starting pitcher Cameron Clinton Fortuin took the loss after lasting just one and two-thirds innings.

Game 5: Korea 6, Czech Republic 1

With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Korea scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, using three consecutive hits to pull away from the Czech Republic with a 6-1 win.

Woojun Sim went 3-for-3 and drove in three, while Juntae Kim contributed a pair of hits including an RBI double.

Chaehueng Choi, who started on the mound for Korea, tossed 6 2/3 inning and struck out eight to record the win.

Marek Chlup collected a pair of hits and drove in the lone Czech Republic run, while Lukáš Ercoli took the loss.

Game 6: Panama 3, Mexico 1

A two-out solo home run from Carlos Luis Sanchez Pinto highlighted a 3-run second inning for Panama as they rode the arm of Humberto Alberto Nuñez to a 3-1 win over host Mexico.

Nuñez was brilliant tossing seven shutout innings, allowing only three hits and a walk, while striking out six batters.

Mexico narrowly managed to broke the shutout bid with a run in the top of the ninth.

Starting pitcher Omar Fenicio Basulto was tagged with the loss for Mexico.

Panama’s victory went viral on Twitter, rising as high as the No. 2 trending topic in Panama Friday night.

The WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup continues with six games tomorrow (Saturday), including a rematch of the U-21 Baseball World Cup Final between Chinese Taipei and Japan.

All 50 games of the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup® 2016 in Monterrey are being live-streamed globally and free-of-charge for audiences.