"Moon Bo Kyung is crazy! "First two runs → 4 RBIs with a timely hit" South Korea got 5 points in first place! I've met one of the requirements for the quarterfinals [2026 WBC]

*This content was translated by AI.

The South Korean national baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Ji-hyun (55), realized a "five-point difference or more," one of the requirements for advancing to the second round (eight) of the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) with an explosive hitting sense in the early stages.

South Korea led Australia 5-0 in the final Group C match of the first round of the 2026 WBC finals at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 9th, with the top of the fifth inning underway.

Prior to the match, Group C competed for one ticket to the quarterfinals with 2-1 Australia, 2-1 Taiwan, and 1-2 South Korea, with Japan securing the top spot with all three wins.

According to the WBC regulations, the ranking of the first round is determined in the order of winner win, minimum run rate, and minimum earned run rate among teams with tied winning rates. Australia gained the most advantage with Australia's 3-0 victory over Taiwan and Taiwan's 5-4 victory over South Korea. Therefore, South Korea was able to advance to Australia only after winning nine innings with a difference of two runs or less and five runs or more.

With one point and one point important, the batters relieved the pitchers of their heavy shoulders. Coincidentally, former and current KBO League LG Twins players stepped up to the Australian mound. First, Lachlan Wells, who was recruited by LG's Asian quarter this season, started.

Wells, who finished the first inning with three outs, had a hit in the left field by leadoff hitter Ahn Hyun-min in the second inning. He then faced his new teammate Moon Bo-kyung, and the bat hit the ball directly on the second pitch. Moon Bo-kyung's ball flew 108.7 miles per hour and hit the stands 430 feet above the right-center fence. A two-run first to announce South Korea's 2-0 lead.

From this point on, Wells was shaken. He gave Noh a walk and turned Kim Joo-won into a fly ball to right field. However, he gave up a straight walk to Park Dong-won again. In the end, he caught Shin Min-jae with a fly ball to left field and was replaced by Koen Win. Win was a foreign player who replaced LG's injury for six weeks last year.

Win finished the second inning with Kim Do-young grounded out to first base, but faced a crisis immediately in the third inning. In the third inning, leadoff batters Jamei Jones and Lee Jung-hoo scored one more point by hitting consecutive doubles to center field.

Australia changed the mound again to Mitch Nunborn from Triple-A of the Philadelphia Phillies. However, South Korea took a 4-0 lead as Moon Bo-kyung again scored an RBI double to right-center.

Nunborn was replaced by Alexander Wells after striking out Roh Si-hwan swinging. Alexander Wells is Lachlan Wells' twin brother. However, he failed to cross the threshold again. First, Ahn Hyun-min walked with two outs in the top of the fifth inning and stole second base to create a scoring opportunity. Here, Moon Bo-kyung hit Alexander Wells' fastball to score an RBI timely hit over the left field key. It's already been four RBIs.

At the same time, Korea quickly met one of the requirements for advancing to the quarterfinals.

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*This content was translated by AI.