Hanwha came from behind to win a 6-5 home game against SSG in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on Saturday. Park Sang-un’s tying RBI single in the ninth inning was followed by Jung Eun-won’s game-winning hit in the 11th. Jung finished with four hits and two RBIs, including the game-winner.
Hanwha, which avenged a 6-11 loss to SSG the previous day (May 5), finished with 45 wins, 62 losses and six draws, pushing Kiwoom to 10th place. Third-place SSG has 61 wins, 52 losses and one draw.
SSG struck first. In the first inning against Hanwha starter Lee Ita Yang, leadoff hitter Choo Shin-soo singled up the middle and advanced to second on Choi Ji-hoon’s grounder to the pitcher. He then scored on Choi Jeong-woo’s double to center field to take the lead. In the third, Ji-hoon Choi walked and came around to score on Choi’s RBI double to left-center. Guillermo Heredia followed with a double down the left field line, and Choi came home with time to spare, making it 3-0. Choi’s 1,356 career RBIs were the most in KBO history.
Hanwha fought back in the third inning. Facing SSG starter Kim Kwang-hyun, Jung Eun-won drew an eight-pitch walk and Noh Si-hwan singled to right-center to put runners on first and third, and Chae Eun-sung’s sacrifice fly to center field tied the game at one. In the fourth inning, Jung Eun-won singled up the middle with runners on second and third, and Oh Sun-jin and Noh Si-hwan singled to left to make it 4-3. They scored three runs in the fourth inning to put the game out of reach for Kim Kwang-hyun.
However, SSG did not go down easily. In the seventh inning, Hanwha took advantage of Kim Bum-soo. Pinch-hitter Ha Jae-hoon singled and Choi Jung walked to put runners on first and second with two outs. He drove a two-pitch changeup to right-center field for a two-run double. 5-4.
SSG’s starter Kim Kwang-hyun struggled, allowing four runs on nine hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 3⅔ innings, but Lee Eun-wook bounced back with 2⅓ scoreless innings with three hits, one walk and three strikeouts. In the seventh and eighth innings, Ko Hyo-joon and Noh Kyung-eun each pitched one-hit shutout innings, but Seo Jin-yong blew his third blown save of the season in the ninth.
After Choi In-ho led off with a single to right-center, Jang Jin-hyuk followed with a single up the middle after a failed outfield bunt to put runners on first and second. Here, catcher Park Sang-un switched from bunting to hitting. Fake bunt and slash. It was a single to left-center field that cleared the SSG infield, bringing home second baseman Choi In-ho, tying the game at 5-5.
In the next at-bat, Hanwha loaded the bases on a sacrifice bunt by Lee Do-yoon and an automatic double by Jung Eun-won. Oh Sun-jin flied out to 메이저토토사이트 shortstop to send the game into extra innings, but Hanwha ended the game in the 11th. With one out against SSG reliever Lee Soo-roon, Jang Jin-hyuk singled to right. The next batter, Nick Williams, pinch-hit for Choi, grounded to third, but second baseman Kim Sung-hyun’s throwing error put runners on first and third.
Williams stole second, and Lee Do-yoon reached on an automatic double play to empty first base. With the bases loaded, Jung was able to get the final out. She hit a hard line drive to pitcher Lee Do-yoon for the game-winning hit and was doused with water by her teammates. It was Jung’s fourth hit of the game, her first four-hit game of the season.