At the top of the first inning, leadoff hitter Park Si-hyun hit a right-handed hit and ran to second base while the opponent's defense missed the ball. Lee Chung-heon's sacrifice bunt led to one out and third base. No. 3 Yeo Dong-gun brought home a timely hit to the right and scored the first goal.
But the attack went that far. There were no additional points.
Starter Hwang Jun-do also started uneasily due to a mistake in the bottom of the first inning.
After sending out Taiwan's leadoff hitter due to a mistake by right fielder Lee Sung-min, he allowed a steal with two outs and third base. No. 4 hitter Wang Nian Hao hit a timely hit and gave up a 1-1 tie right away.
In the bottom of the third inning, Hwang Joon-seo was shaken once again.
Following the ball that hit the body after one out, the ball was balked, wild pitch, and walks, with one out and runners on first and third base.
Kim Taek-yeon, who rushed to the mound with one out and runners on first and third bases, allowed pinch hitter Chiu Shin and Li Sun-chie consecutive timely hits, gave up one more point to Juan Tien-Tzu.
South Korea, which lost its lead, lost an additional point to Taiwan in the bottom of the fourth inning with a double, consecutive walks, and timely hits. However, Kim Taek-yeon struck out two subsequent batters in a row to prevent further runs.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, South Korea allowed a left-handed hit to Ko Ching-shien and was completely defeated by giving up its sixth run due to a defensive throwing error following a steal.
Starter Hwang Joon-seo became a losing pitcher with five hits, two walks, three strikeouts, and four runs (three earned runs) in 2⅓ innings. Second pitcher Kim Taek-yeon allowed one run with three hits and two walks in three innings, but he made an impressive pitch with seven strikeouts with fastballs.
Jeon Mir, who took the mound after one out in the sixth inning, recorded one hit and one run in ⅔ innings. The three players are set for the 2024 rookie draft on the 14th. Attention is also being paid to the results of the international competition between Hwang Joon-seo and Kim Taek-yeon, who are competing for the No. 1 draft due to Jang Hyun-seok's trip to the U.S. Hwang Joon-seo is likely to go to Hanwha, the first pick, and Kim Taek-yeon to Doosan, the second pick. Lee Do-ryu's Jeon Mir is also a strong prospect for a first-round pick.
South Korea will play the second match of the preliminary round against the Czech Republic at 4 p.m. on the 3rd.
It was originally an evening game, but due to the influence of Typhoon Haikui, which runs through Taiwan, the game schedule was moved up three days ago.
