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| Raul Alcantara / Photo=DB |
[Sports Today reporter Kang Tae-gu] The Kiwoom Heroes routed the NC Dinos to pick up their first win of the exhibition slate.
Kiwoom beat NC 8-1 on the 15th at Masan Baseball Stadium in a 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League exhibition game.
The victory moved Kiwoom to 1-3 in exhibition play, while NC fell to 1-1-2 (W-T-L).
Kiwoom starter Raul Alcantara delivered four shutout innings, allowing three hits, striking out four and walking one.
Offensively, Eo Jun-seo launched a pair of home runs to carry the lineup.
NC starter Riley Thompson took the loss, yielding five runs on five hits — three of them homers — with three strikeouts and two walks in 3 1/3 innings.
Kiwoom seized momentum with the long ball. In the top of the second, with no outs and a runner on first after Park Chan-hyeok drew a walk, Park Joo-hong turned on Thompson’s fifth pitch, a 148 km/h (92 mph) fastball, and drove it over the right-field wall for a two-run homer to put Kiwoom ahead.
On the very next at-bat, Eo Jun-seo hammered a 146 km/h (91 mph) fastball for a back-to-back solo shot that electrified the dugout.
NC, meanwhile, couldn’t solve Alcantara early. In the bottom of the first, after two outs, Park Min-woo reached on a single and Kim Hwi-jip was hit by a pitch, but Kwon Hee-dong’s hard line drive to third ended the inning.
NC went down in order in the second. A leadoff hit by Choi Jeong-won in the third offered hope, but NC couldn’t push a run across.
Kiwoom extended the lead in the fourth. With Park Joo-hong on after a hit, Eo Jun-seo drove reliever Park Si-won’s 145 km/h (90 mph) fastball to right for a two-run homer, increasing the margin to 5-0.
In the top of the sixth, Park Chan-hyeok doubled and Kim Keon-hee drew a walk, bringing Park Han-gyeol to the plate. Park delivered an RBI single, giving Kiwoom further control of the game.
Kiwoom put the game out of reach in the eighth. After Kim Dong-hun walked to start the frame, Kim Tae-jin laced an RBI double and Lee Joo-hyung followed with an RBI single to push the lead to 8-0 and essentially seal the win.
NC finally got on the board in the bottom of the eighth. Consecutive walks to Park Si-won and Do Tae-hoon loaded the bases, and Chun Jae-hwan delivered an RBI single to make it 8-1.
NC could not mount any further offense in the ninth, and the game ended with Kiwoom prevailing 8-1.
[Sports Today reporter Kang Tae-gu sports@stoo.com]
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