Eliminated Korea beats Australia to close out Premier12

Korean players leave the field after the Group B game with Australia at the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 at Tianmu Baseball Stadium, Taipei, Nov. 18. Yonhap Korea defeated Australia 5-2 in its final game of the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 in Taipei on Monday, closing out the competition on a winning note after it had already been eliminated from title contention the previous night.

Star third baseman Kim Do-yeong crushed his third home run of the tournament and drove in four runs as designated hitter on the rainy day at Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium in the teams' final Group B contest, with seven relievers holding Australia to two runs after starter Ko Young-pyo threw 3 2/3 shutout innings. With the top two countries advancing to the Super Round starting later this week in Tokyo, Korea finished in third place at 3-2. Japan and Chinese Taipei grabbed the two tickets out of Group B to the Super Round by winning their respective games Sunday, knocking Korea out in the process.



Japan is 4-0 and will take on the Dominican Republic on Monday evening. Chinese Taipei, 3-1, will finish out the opening round against Cuba. Even if Chinese Taipei loses that game and finishes at 3-2, tied with Korea, it will hold the tiebreaker because it beat Korea 6-3 to start the competition last Wednesday.

Following that loss, Korea beat Cuba 8-4 on Thursday but then fell to Japan 6-3 the following day. A 9-6 win over the Dominican Republic on Saturday kept Korea's hopes alive, before Japan and Chinese Taipei took care of business Sunday. Korea failed to cash in after loading the bases with one out against starter Tim Atherton in the bottom second, with Kim Hyung-jun popping out to first and Choi Won-jun striking out swinging.

But Korea got on the board in the bottom third against new pitcher Steven Kent. After Hong Chang-ki singled to begin the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, Kim Do-yeong brought him home with a single to center. Kim Do-yeong hit home run during the Group B game with Australia at the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 at Tianmu Baseball Stadium, Taipei, Nov.

18. Yonhap Korea tacked on two more runs in the top fourth against the third Australian pitcher, Josh Guyer. A walk and a single had runners at first and second for Shin Min-jae, who hit a soft grounder to first baseman Rixon Wingrove.

But Wingrove made an errant toss to Guyer covering the bag, and as the ball hit the top of the pitcher's glove and skipped into the foul territory, Park Seong-han scored from second to put Korea up 2-0. Kim Do-yeong then singled off a first-pitch curveball for a 3-0 lead, knocking Guyer out of the game. Australia got their first run in the top fifth when Travis Bazzana drew a bases-loaded walk against reliever Choi Seung-yong.

Then in the top sixth, Liam Spence delivered an RBI single to cut the deficit to 3-2. Kim Do-yeong then took matters into his own hands, restoring a three-run lead for his team by smoking a two-run home run off Sam Holland in the bottom sixth. Ko atoned for his poor outing against Chinese Taipei with 3 2/3 innings of one-hit ball.

And the bullpen kept the door closed in the late innings. So Hyeong-jun worked a clean seventh inning and struck out two batters, before Kim Seo-hyeon followed with a scoreless eighth. Closer Park Yeong-hyun then struck out the side in the ninth inning after throwing 14 straight fastballs.

Kim Do-yeong finished the tournament with team-high totals of three home runs and 10 RBIs. (Yonhap).