ASIAN GAMES/Taiwan falls 5-0 to S. Korea in Asian Games baseball opener

Taipei, Sept. 21 (CNA) Taiwan was shut out 5-0 by South Korea in its opening baseball game at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Monday, managing just two hits against South Korean pitching.

At Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Baseball Stadium in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, Taiwan's 20-year-old amateur pitcher Lin Yi-wei (林佾葳) held South Korea to one hit and one unearned run over five innings, striking out two and walking one.

But Lin received no offensive support as Taiwan was held hitless until the ninth inning.

South Korean starter Gwak Been struck out 10 and walked two over six hitless innings. Relievers Jo Byeonghyeon and Park Yeonghyun combined for five more strikeouts, giving South Korea's three pitchers 15 strikeouts for the game.

Taiwan's only baserunners through the first eight innings came on walks to Kao Yu-wei (高育瑋) and Chen Min-sih (陳敏賜) in the third and fifth innings, respectively.

South Korea came within two outs of a combined no-hitter when Park struck out pinch hitter Li I-wei (李亦崴) to begin the ninth.

Chen Chen-wei (陳晨威) then broke up the bid with a single, and Huang Wei-sheng (黃韋盛) added another hit with two outs to put runners on first and second.

Liu Ji-hong (劉基鴻) struck out swinging to end the game, leaving Taiwan scoreless with just two hits.

South Korea took a 1-0 lead in the second inning after a Taiwan fielding error allowed Moon Bogyeong to reach base. Moon later scored on Park Jaehyun's sacrifice fly, making the run against Lin unearned.

Lin recovered to retire 11 consecutive batters and keep Taiwan within one run through five innings.

South Korea extended its lead in the seventh on an RBI single by Park Junsoon and a sacrifice fly by Cho Hyeongwoo against reliever Liu Chih-jung (劉致榮).

It added two more runs in the eighth on Roh Sihwan's sacrifice fly and a pinch-hit solo home run by Yoon Donghee, putting the game beyond Taiwan's reach.

Taiwan will face Thailand on Tuesday before completing its Group B schedule against Hong Kong on Wednesday. The top two teams in the group will advance to the next round.