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| Park Kun-woo / Photo=DB |
NC rallied for an 8-4 comeback victory over Lotte at Changwon NC Park on April 2 in a 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League game.
With the sweep, NC improved to 4-1 and remained tied for second place with the SSG Landers.
Lotte dropped its third straight game and fell to 2-3, tied for fifth with the Hanwha Eagles and the LG Twins.
Starter Verhagen worked three innings, allowing three hits, one walk and two strikeouts while yielding one run; he departed without a decision. Reliever Shin Young-woo followed and tossed two innings, giving up one hit (a solo homer), issuing two walks and allowing two runs to pick up the win.
At the plate, Park Min-woo and Choi Jeong-won each had multi-hit games and helped fuel the rally. Park Kun-woo delivered the go-ahead double and finished 1-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs and one run.
Lotte starter Kim Jin-wook went 4 2/3 innings, allowing four hits, two walks, striking out four and surrendering three runs. Reliever Kyoyama took the loss after 1 1/3 innings, yielding three hits, one walk and one run.
Lotte struck first. In the top of the second, after one out Son Ho-young lined a hit into center and advanced to second on a wild pitch during Han Dong-hee’s plate appearance. Han struck out, but Yoo Kang-nam followed with a left-field RBI single that brought Son home and gave Lotte a 1-0 lead.
Lotte extended its advantage in the fifth. Leadoff batter Han Tae-yang reached on a hit-by-pitch, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jeon Min-jae and a wild pitch, and scored on Reyes’ infield grounder to make it 2-0. No Jin-hyuk then crushed Shin Young-woo’s first pitch — a 154 km/h (96 mph) fastball — for a solo homer, pushing Lotte ahead 3-0.
NC answered in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Chun Jae-hwan drew a four-pitch walk and Choi Jeong-won singled. With two outs and runners on first and second, Park Min-woo delivered an RBI single to center to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Lotte removed Kim Jin-wook and summoned Kyoyama, but Kyoyama yielded an RBI single to Davidson and then a two-run go-ahead double to Park Kun-woo, turning a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead for NC.
NC built on the momentum with another big inning. In the bottom of the seventh, leadoff hitter Kim Joo-won singled off reliever Lee Min-seok and advanced to second on Park Min-woo’s infield grounder. Davidson and Park Kun-woo drew consecutive walks to load the bases with one out, and Kim Hwi-jip followed with an infield hit off reliever Kim Kang-hyun to add another run. NC then tacked on three more runs — including a wild pitch and a two-run RBI double by Han Seok-hyun — and stretched the lead to 8-4.
NC brought in closer Ryu Jin-wook for the top of the ninth to protect a four-run lead. Ryu retired Han Dong-hee, Yoo Kang-nam and Park Seung-wook in order to seal the victory.
[Sports Today reporter Shin Seo-young sports@stoo.com]
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