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| Lee Eui-ri / Photo=DB |
[Sports Today reporter Kang Tae-gu] The KIA Tigers held off the KT Wiz, 5-4, in an exhibition game at Gwangju KIA Champions Field on March 15 in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League preseason.
The win improved KIA’s exhibition record to 2-1-1. KT remains winless at 0-2-2.
KIA starter Lee Eui-ri delivered a near-flawless outing, working four scoreless innings with one hit allowed, four strikeouts and no walks.
Offensively, Han Jun-soo and Na Seong-beom provided the big blows, each launching home runs that helped secure the victory.
KT starter Matt Sauer absorbed the loss, allowing five runs on six hits (two homers) with six strikeouts and no walks across five innings.
The scoring opened for KIA in the bottom of the third. Leadoff hitter Han Jun-soo turned on Sauer’s first pitch, a 148 km/h fastball, and drove it over the right fielder’s head for a solo shot.
After Park Min reached with a hit, Dale hit into a fielder’s choice that retired the lead runner, but KIA kept coming: Kim Ho-ryung followed with an RBI double, Castro added an RBI single and Na Seong-beom delivered a two-run homer to push the lead to 5-0 in short order.
KT struggled to solve Lee early. After a 1-2-3 first inning, KT’s second-inning rally stalled despite Jang Sung-woo’s leadoff double. In the third and fourth, Lee’s stuff shut the Wiz down completely; they failed to reach base in either frame.
KT finally woke up in the seventh. With one out and a runner on second following Oh Yun-seok’s double, Han Seung-taek plated a run with a single to right.
In the eighth, Ryu Hyun-in’s double and An Chi-young’s hit put runners on the corners with no outs. Kim Min-seok then delivered a sacrifice fly to center, and Kwon Dong-jin followed with an RBI double to cut the deficit by two more runs.
KIA turned to Jeon Sang-hyun in the top of the ninth, but KT’s Han Seung-taek answered with a solo homer off Jeon’s 141 km/h fastball over the left-field wall to spark a late rally.
Lee Jung-hoon and Ryu Hyun-in drew walks after that, but KT couldn’t push across the tying runs, and KIA held on for the 5-4 victory.
[Sports Today reporter Kang Tae-gu sports@stoo.com]
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