World No. 24 China defeated No. 18 Great Britain 5-3 in eight dramatic innings in a thrillining last game on Field 1 on the opening day of the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup 2024. Both teams are making their debut in the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup.
Great Britain took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh. China tied the game, regretted three runners left on base, but scored the winning runs in the first extra inning. Left-hander Xiang Wang threw a complete game to earn the win.
For five innings, the game was a high-profile pitching duel between Great Britain's left-hander Oliver Duthie and Wang. Both teams had few opportunities to score.
Catcher Tucker Stockman led off the bottom of the second with a double to dead centre. Aidan Kane brought him to third with a base hit. China got the first out at home on a failed double-steal attempt. Aidan Kane reached second on the play and touched second on a flyout. The at-bat ended on a groundout.
Wallace Clark reached on a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh. Second baseman Max Viera looked at two balls and drove the third pitch beyond the wall in centre field for a tie-breaking two-run homer.
Duthie hit Keyu Lin with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Pinch hitter Aiqi Zhang singled on a blooper to shallow left field, becoming the potential tying run.
Samuel Hutchinson relieved Duthie. Tianyuan Hu drove his second pitch in the gap to right centre for a double. Lin scored from second, but Zhang became the second out at the plate. Hu reached third on the play. Shuai Wang walked after an eight-pitch duel, becoming the potential winning run. Qirui Wu tied the game with a single through the right side, bringing the potential winning run in scoring position. China loaded the bases thanks to Xudong Zhu's slow roller to second, but Hutchinson got out of the jam on a towering pop to first base and sent the game to extra innings.
Hutchison loaded the bases with no one out in the top of the eighth. He got the first out at home and the second on a fly to left field, scoring tie-break runner Wenbin Xing from third. Aiqi Zhang single and Tianyuan Hu doubled, extending China's lead to 5-2.
In the bottom half of the frame, Great Britain bunted the tie-break runners Benjamin Leid to third and Rayondre Mercer to second. Benjamin scored on a throwing error, but Wang got Biera to ground into a force out and James Quinn to ground into the game-ending double play.
On Saturday afternoon, China will play Japan while Great Britain will face Colombia.
