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| Shin Jae-in / Photo=DB |
NC topped Kiwoom 8-6 on March 14 at Masan Baseball Stadium in a 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League exhibition game.
The win moved NC to 1-1-1 in the exhibition slate, while Kiwoom dropped its third straight game.
Starter Toda struggled through 3.1 innings, allowing four hits, one walk and three runs while striking out three, but the Dinos provided enough support to avoid a loss. Reliever Kim Nok-won covered 2.2 innings, surrendered two hits (one homer), issued four walks, struck out two and allowed two runs to pick up the win.
Offensively, Shin Jae-in was 2-for-4 with a first-inning solo homer, a third-inning double, one RBI and two runs scored.
Kiwoom starter Jeong Hyun-woo lasted three innings, giving up five hits (one homer), three walks, one strikeout and four runs. Reliever Park Ji-seong was charged with the loss after recording 0.2 innings, issuing three walks and allowing two runs (one earned).
NC struck first. In the bottom of the first, leadoff man Shin Jae-in jumped on Jeong’s first pitch—a 141 km fastball—and drove it over the left-field wall for a leadoff solo shot. NC kept the pressure on: Oh Jang-han followed with a single, Kwon Hee-dong moved the runner to third with a groundout, and Kim Hwi-jip’s single to left plated another run.
The Dinos extended the lead in the third. Shin opened the frame with a first-pitch fastball that rolled into left-center for a double. NC then scratched across a run via an Oh groundout, a hit-by-pitch to Kwon, and a walk to Kim, loading the bases with one out. Seo Ho-chul’s two-run single made it 4-0.
Kiwoom answered in the fourth. Leadoff hitter Ahn Chi-hong ripped a double into left-center and advanced to third on Choi Joo-hwan’s grounder. Im Ji-yeol followed with an RBI single to bring Ahn home, and Park Chan-hyuk added another double into left-center to create a one-out, runners-in-scoring-position chance. Kiwoom then stole two runs—one on a wild pitch and another on a walk and run-scoring groundout by Eo Jun-seo—to pull within 4-3.
Kiwoom tied it in the fifth. With two outs and the bases empty, Ahn hammered reliever Kim Nok-won’s fourth pitch, a 132 km changeup, over the left-field wall for a game-tying solo homer.
NC responded quickly. In the bottom of the fifth, with one out and runners on first and third, a throwing error by the pitcher allowed all runners to score. In the sixth, with two outs and the bases loaded, Choi Jeong-won delivered an RBI single to center to push the lead to 7-4.
Kiwoom kept fighting. In the seventh, Park Han-gyeol, Seo Geon-chang and Ahn Chi-hong all drew walks to load the bases with no outs. After two groundouts, Chu Jae-hyun drew a bases-loaded walk off reliever Jeong Gu-beom to cut the deficit to one. Kiwoom added another run in the eighth when Choi Jae-young tripled and Seo Geon-chang followed with an RBI single, closing the gap to 7-6.
That would be as close as Kiwoom got. In the bottom of the eighth, NC pushed across an insurance run when a third-base error with two outs and runners on first and second allowed a run to score. In the ninth, closer Bae Jae-hwan came on and retired Kiwoom’s final three hitters—Lee Hyung-jong, Chu Jae-hyun and Park Su-jong—to seal an 8-6 victory for the Dinos.
[Sports Today reporter Shin Seo-young sports@stoo.com]
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