WBC: Korea blanks Australia 6-0 to stay in contention

04/03/2013

Taichung. Team Korea stays in contention in Pool B with a 6-0 shutout of Australia on Day 3 of WBC action in Taichung City.

By Jason Pan at Taichung Intercontinental Stadium, Chinese Taipei

Taichung. Team Korea stays in contention in Pool B with a 6-0 shutout of Australia on Day 3 of WBC action in Taichung City.

Looking to revive their anemic offense (from their loss to the Dutch), Korean players came out firing on all cylinders.

They scored three runs in the first inning against Aussie starter Ryan Searle, and led all the way to the end. With bases loaded, outfielder Kim Hyun Soo drove in two runs on a single to rightfield in that first-inning rally.

Thereafter Korea added single run each in the 2nd, 7th, and 9th innings for the team’s total six runs. Their big sluggers, Lee Seung Yuop and Lee Dae Ho, each had 3 hits each for the total 11 hits on the night.

For Australia, they managed 6 hits but could not break the goose egg against the Korean pitchers. Mike Walker and Tim Kennelly had 2 hit each for the team’s cause.

Aussie starter Ryan Searle (3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 BB) was tagged with the loss. Winning pitcher goes to Korean starter Song Seung Jun (4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB), his first victory in the tournament.

In the post-game press briefing, Korean manager Ryu Chung Il said the team got off to a good start and the hitters have waken up to crank up the offense. For the crucial game tomorrow against Chinese Taipei, he will call upon LHP Chang Won Jun to start on the mound, and seeks to score lots of runs for the favorable tie-breaker outcome.

Australian manager Jon Deeble said, “The Korean pitchers did extremely well.  We struggled to get a hit. It’s tough when you are 3 runs down in the first inning, very difficult to play catch up through the game.”

The result sets up a showdown between Korea (1-1) and Chinese Taipei (2-0) in the final game of Pool B tomorrow evening (March 5).   Korea needs to win over the hosts by a margin of 6 runs or more to ensure advancing.

Chinese Taipei has announced to use LHP Yang Yao-Hsun to start against Team Korea. If the host win, they would be 3-0 to top the group.

The early game in the afternoon will have the Netherlands facing Australia, with the outcome also to determine the final finishing.

Australia (0-2) still has a mathematical chance of finishing in runner-up position, if they can beat the Netherlands (1-1), and will depend on outcome from the other contest.

For the Dutch, if they triumph over Australia, they would be the runner-up with a 2-1 record.

A tie-breaker formula will be used, as the final Pool B outcome may have two or three teams with the 1-2, or 2-1 records.