South Korea rallies from 0-4 to lead 6-4, then falls 7-8 in another comeback defeat... Choi Won-ho’s team stumbles from the opener, with a must-win Korea-Japan clash on the 13th [2026 APBC]

[Financial News] South Korea’s national baseball team suffered a shocking defeat after giving up the lead in the opening game of the showcase for prospects from four Asian countries. The team surrendered a victory that had seemed all but secured through a bullpen meltdown and errors, sending the pressure ahead of the upcoming Korea-Japan game to a peak.
South Korea, led by manager Wonho Choi, lost 7-8 to Australia in the first game of the 2026 Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) round robin at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 12th. Korea overturned a 0-4 deficit with a six-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth, but surrendered four runs in the eighth and ninth innings and fell.
Things looked shaky from the start. Right-hander Kim Min-jun (SSG Landers), who has nine wins this season and started on the mound, gave up three runs in the first inning. After getting into trouble with walks interspersed with outs, he threw a forkball to left-handed batter Blake Cavil that sailed over the right-center-field wall for a three-run homer. Then, with one out and runners on first and second in the third, left-hander Jo Dong-wook (Hanwha Eagles), who had come in as a reliever, gave up an RBI single to right by Chris Burke, leaving Korea trailing 0-4.

After being held scoreless, South Korea’s lineup showed astonishing focus in the bottom of the sixth. Manager Wonho Choi sent pinch hitter Kim Ji-chan (Samsung Lions) to bat for leadoff hitter Cho Hyeong-woo, and Kim opened the rally with a double down the left-field line.
With one out, Kim Ju-won (NC Dinos) launched a huge two-run homer off Australian left-handed reliever Cooper Morgan, driving the ball into the top of the left-field fence. Korea seized the momentum, and with two outs and the bases loaded after three consecutive walks, Kim Hwi-jip (NC) ripped a three-run, bases-clearing double off the top of the right-field wall to turn the game around at 5-4. Then, on Park Jae-hyun’s (Kia Tigers) RBI single to right, Kim Hwi-jip slid deftly across home to extend the lead to 6-4.
But the bullpen door, which should have stayed firmly shut, came loose. The trouble began in the top of the eighth, when Kim Hwi-jip made an error by failing to field Cavil’s hit cleanly. Rattled reliever Park Jeong-min (Lotte Giants) then gave up a two-run homer to Clayton Campbell to left-center, tying the score at 6-6.


The game was ultimately decided in the ninth. Choi Jun-yong (Lotte Giants), who took the mound, gave up a painful go-ahead run on a double to No. 4 hitter Burke with one out and a runner on first. With two outs and a runner on second, he then surrendered another RBI double to Max Darrington, putting Korea firmly on the back foot.
In the bottom of the ninth, Korea managed just one run in its final chance with one out and runners on second and third, on a sacrifice fly by lineup anchor Kim Do-yeong (Kia Tigers). Home run king Kim Do-yeong, batting third that day, went hitless in four at-bats. The sole consolation was the emergence of left-hander Kim Geon-woo (SSG), who came on as the third pitcher in the fourth and delivered 22⁄3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out five.
Coming off a painful loss in the opener, South Korea’s national baseball team will play its second game, a crucial showdown with Japan, at the same venue at 7 p.m. on the 13th. In this four-country tournament, the top two teams in the round-robin standings advance to the final on the 15th, making a win over Japan vital for Korea.
[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter