WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup Day 4: Nicaragua break the tie in the seventh. Great Britain cut the gap
Day 4 of the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2024 began at the Baseball Softball Conference Center in Shaoxing, China. World No. 10 Puerto Rico beat No. 24 China. No. Venezuela gave No. 6 Korea their first defeat.
The Afternoon games No. 17 Nocaragua-No. 7 Netherlands and No. 18 Great Britain-No. 15 Australia will start at 14:30 (local time).
The day will close at 19:00 (local time) with No. 11 Colombia-No. 1 Japan and No. 3 Chinese Taipei-No. 31 South Africa,
All Games are Live on Game Time
Standings WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2024
| # | Team | W | L | T | PCT | GB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 0 |
| 2 |  |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 0.5 |
| 2 |  |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 0.5 |
| 4 |  |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 | 1 |
| 5 |  |
| 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 | 1.5 |
| 6 |  |
| 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 2.5 |
| # | Team | W | L | T | PCT | GB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 |
| 2 |  |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 1 |
| 2 |  |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | 1 |
| 4 |  |
| 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 3 |
| 5 |  |
| 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 3.5 |
| 5 |  |
| 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 3.5 |
Tournament Links
Nicaragua @ Netherlands
Justin Morales started for the Netherlands. Nicaragua chose Samuel Guadamuz.
Nicaragua couldn't turn into a run a runner at second and no outs in the first. Junior Ortega singled to leadoff the game, atole second, but Morales retired the side in order to end the at-bat.
The Netherlands left two runners on base in the third and fourth innings. In the fourth, Guadamuz struck out Donovan Antonia with runners at second and first and one out after an eight-pitch duel.
Guadamuz walked Jair Van Borkulo with two outs in the bottom of the sixth and left for right-hander Albir Rueda, who needed two pitches to get out of the inning.
Great Britain @ Australia
Zakery Elvy took the mound for Australia. Great Britain gave the ball to Luke Corcoran.
Corcoran hit three of the first four batters he faced and struck out the other. Australia scored the go-ahead run on a groundout.
Australia used five hits, including a three-run homer by U-23 Baseball World Cup veteran Chris Burke, to score four runs in the bottom of the second and extend their lead to 5-0.
Great Britain made it a one-run game in the top of the third. Left fielder Charlie Collins delivered a two-RBI double to left field and Tucker Stockman followed with an RBI single. The fourth run scored when Max Viera grounded into a double play.
Australia struck right back and opened the score to 10-4. Corcoran left with a runner at first in the bottom of the third. Reliever Cameron Moore's wild approach to the game, a defensive error and Clarke's sacrifice fly provided the runs.
Puerto Rico-China 8-4
Puerto Rico took an early lead and would not surrender, but a brave China made it a close game until Puerto Rico opened the score with a three-run sixth at bat.
Puerto Rico chose Luis Rivera to start the game, while Shulong Ding took the mound for China.
Ding walked two batters, hit a third and left for Jie Zhou. Puerto Rico got to the right-hander with base hits by Luis Gonzalez and Gilberto Torres for a quick 3-0 lead.
Puerto Rico added a run in the bottom of the second on another RBI single by Luis Gonzalez.
Tyanhuan Hu doubled with runners at second and first to put China on the scoreboard in the top of the third.
China cut the lead to 4-2 in the top of the fourth. Rivera left for Alejandro Gonzalez with the bases loaded and no outs. He allowed a one-out RBI single to Mingxin Zhang before getting out of the ending on a double play.
Puerto Rico made it again a three-run game in the bottom half of the inning. Huenchen Fu, the third Chinese pitcher, left with runners at third and second. He allowed the fifth run on another RBI single by Luis Gonzalez, then got out of the inning on a double play.
China added a run and stranded the potential go-ahead ones in the top of the fifth. Alejandro Gonzalez left with runners at third and second. Reliever Ramon Rodriguez threw only seven pitches, allowing base hits to Yi Zhou and Aiqi Zhang and a run. He left with the bases loaded.
Lucas Vega got the second out on strikes and got some help from shortstop Randal Diaz, who got beyond the second base bag to stop a grounder by Wentao Zhang and get the third out at first.
China made it a one run game in the top of the sixth. Xudong Zhu bunted for the hit with two outs, stole second and scored on Wenbin Xing's single.
Puerto Rico stroke right back with a three-run rally to open the score to 8-4. Randal Diaz doubled with a runner on, Edrick Felix followed with a two-RBI triple and Luis Gonzalez contributed with a sacrifice fly, his fourth RBI of the day.
GAME REPORT
Venezuela-Korea 8-4
Three Venezuelan pitchers limited Korea to four hits. Venezuela became the first team to beat Korea and tied them at 3-1 on top of Group B.
Taehyun Kim got the ball for Korea, while Venezuela started Miguel Olivares
Olivares got some early help from his defence.
Korea took the lead in the bottom of the second, manufacturing the run with a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly after Donghyun Kim's leadoff double.
Venezuela rallied in the top of the fourth to take control of the game. Pedro Martinez and Gilbert Medina reached on back-to-back singles. With the runners at the corners, Dobeen Kim allowed the tying run on a wild pitch. He left for Juhwan Son after allowing a walk.
The third Korean pitcher couldn't stop Venezuela. The runners advanced on sacrifice bunt and scored on a passed ball and Lewis Castillo's RBI single. Castillo scored on Brainer Bonaci's double to make it 5-1. Korea handed the ball to Baeksam Kim to end the at-bat.
Gilbert Medina extended Venezuela's lead to 6-1 with a one-out RBI single in the top of the fifth.
Korea cut the gap to 6-3 in the bottom of the fifth on a two-RBI single by Hyunjong Kim off Adrian Luna, the third Venezuelan pitcher and made it 6-4, scoring on a passed ball and a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth.
Venezuela opened the score with a two-RBI single by Lewis Castillo in the top of the seventh.
GAME REPORT
- Day 3 Recap
- Day 2 Recap
- Day 1 Recap
- Pre-Tournament press conference
- Where to watch
- Korea preview
- China preview
- Colombia preview
- Netherlands preview
- Puerto Rico preview
- Chinese Taipei preview
- Great Britain preview
- Venezuela preview
- Nicaragua preview
- Australia preview
- South Africa preview
- Japan preview