WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS Group B Day 3 - Dominican Republic v Australia, Korea v Japan
Welcome to day three of Group B action of the WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS in Taipei. Two cracking games with Dominican Republic taking on Australia in Tianmu and Korea playing Japan at the Taipei Dome.
Japan, the No. 1 in the KONAMI/WBSC Men’s Baseball World Ranking, take on No. 6, Korea, at 6pm local time on Friday at the Taipei Dome in Taipei, Taiwan in a Group B Opening Round game.
The defending champions opened the WBSC Premier12 2024 with a convincing 9-3 win over Australia on Wednesday at the Vantelin Dome Nagoya. Their only blemish was the sixth inning, when they gave up a pair of long home runs. They had Thursday off to travel to Taipei for their clash with Korea.
On the back of incredible support from their fans, Korea meanwhile entered the win column on Thursday with an 8-4 win over Cuba at Tianmu Stadium. Doyeong Kim did Doyeong Kim things and went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs and five RBI. The victory got them to 1-1 in the Opening Round standings, as they had lost the first game on Wednesday 6-3 against Chinese Taipei, where they had dug a 6-0 hole after two innings.
Samurai Japan have selected Hiroto Takahashi as starting pitcher for the contest. The 22-year-old right-hander from the Chunichi Dragons pitched his third season in the NPB league this year. He went 12-4 with an ERA of 1.38 in 21 games. He collected 130 strikeouts and walked 34 batters in 143 2/3 innings. He now has a career ERA of 2.10 in NPB. He was the number one draft pick in NPB in 2020.
Korea are sending Seungyong Choi as starting pitcher into the game. The 23-year-old left-hander from the Doosan Bears was 2-0 with an ERA of 6.00 in 12 games (six starts) in the KBO this year. He struck out 21 batters in 27 innings, walking seven. Overall he has a 4.69 career ERA in four seasons with the Bears.
Standings WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS
| # | Team | W | L | T | PCT | GB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
| 4 | 1 | 0 | .800 | 0 |
| 2 |  |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | .600 | 1 |
| 3 |  |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | .600 | 1 |
| 4 |  |
| 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 | 2 |
| 5 |  |
| 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 | 2 |
| 6 |  |
| 1 | 4 | 0 | .200 | 3 |
| # | Team | W | L | T | PCT | GB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 |
| 2 |  |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.5 |
| 3 |  |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 1 |
| 3 |  |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 1 |
| 5 |  |
| 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 | 1.5 |
| 6 |  |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 2 |
World No. 12 Dominican Republic (1-1) and No. 15 Australia (0-1) will compete at Taipei Tianmu Stadium. Australia's manager, David Nilsson, will hand the ball to 34-year-old right-hander Warwick Saupold, one of the 38 Australian players who have experienced Major League Baseball (MLB).
Saupold played in 82 MLB games for the Detroit Tigers in three seasons (2016, 2017, and 2018), all out of the bullpen. He pitched 155 Minor League Baseball (MiLB) games, including 46 at the Triple-A level. In 2019 and 2020, he was a starter for the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) league. He started ten games for the Perth Heat of the Australian Baseball League (ABL) in the 2023-24 season.
César Martin chose 22-year-old right-hander Luis Vargas to start for the Dominican Republic.
A professional in the Atlanta Braves organization since 2019, Vargas has played at two different levels in 2024. He pitched nine games at the A level, starting three, and 14 at the A+ level, starting 13. He struck out 65 in 64 innings, walking only 22 and posting a 3-3 record with a 4.08 earned run average (ERA).
Dominican Republic v Australia preview
Key News
- Group B - Day 2: Chinese Taipei claim second win, Korea beat Cuba
- Group B - Day 1: Japan, Dominican Republic, Chinese Taipei claim opening victories
- WBSC Premier12 2024 Group B to open on 13 November in Nagoya and Taipei
- WBSC Premier12 2024 Preview: 12 teams chase international baseball glory
- WBSC Premier12 2024 Tournament Programme and Media Guide available to download
- WBSC Premier12 2024 - By The Numbers
Key links
- Tournament Website
- Schedule/Results/Live Scoring
- Where to Watch
- Live clips on X
- Videos
- Photos
- WBSC Premier12 2024 Groups
- WBSC/KONAMI Men's Baseball World Ranking