A come-from-behind three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning. NC’s foreign-born slugger Jason Martin hit two home runs to lead the team to its fourth straight win.
NC completed a 7-5 comeback win against Hanwha in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on April 22. Trailing 4-5 in the ninth inning, Martin’s game-winning three-run homer exploded from first and third base. Martin followed up his leadoff solo shot in the second inning with a multi-homer game and four RBIs.
NC, which has won four straight, remained in fourth place with 41 wins, 38 losses and one tie. Hanwha, which has lost two straight, dropped one spot from eighth to ninth with 34 wins, 42 losses and 24 ties.
NC struck first. In the second inning, Martin, the leadoff hitter, lined a 145-kilometer fastball outside the zone from Hanwha starter Felix Peña over the right field fence. A 105-meter home run, his eighth of the season.
Hanwha answered with two runs in the third. After a one-out walk to NC starter Taylor Weidner, Lee Do-yoon singled to right and then Lee Jin-young tied the game with an RBI double to left field. Kim In-hwan followed with an RBI single to right off Widener’s fastball to make it 2-1. In the fourth inning, Jung Eun-won added a run with a solo home run. Jung took a 144-kilometer fastball up the middle of Widener’s second pitch for a towering solo shot. It traveled 115 meters and was her second home run of the season.
NC didn’t go down easily either. They were held to one run by Hanwha starter Peña until the fifth inning, but in the sixth, Kim Joo-won singled, Park Min-woo walked, and catcher Choi Jae-hoon’s foil put runners on second and third with one out. He pulled a four-pitch fastball from Peña for an RBI double to tie the game at 3-3.
In the seventh inning, the teams traded one run apiece as both teams utilized their bullpens. In the top of the seventh, NC took a 4-3 lead after Kim Joo-won led off with a single to right off Hanwha reliever Kang Jae-min, and Son Asub followed with a two-run double off reliever Kim Bum-soo to the right-center field fence. Hanwha then tied the game in the bottom of the seventh off NC reliever Kim Si-hoon. After back-to-back singles by Lee Do-yoon and Lee Jin-young and a bases-loaded walk by Kim Tae-yeon, Noh Si-hwan’s infield single tied the game at 4-4.
In the eighth inning, Hanwha took the lead. Two batters later, Jung Eun-won and Lee Do-yoon singled and Lee Jin-young singled to left, and with the bases loaded, Kim Tae-yeon faced a full count against NC pitcher Lee Yong-chan, who fumbled a six-pitch fastball. However, catcher Park Se-hyuk failed to catch the ball, which hit her in the left knee and bounced into the first base dugout, allowing Kim Tae-yeon to run to first base. Meanwhile, Jung Eun-won came home from third base to make it a 5-4 game. NC manager Kang Myung-ho came out and asked for a video review of Kim Tae-yeon’s foul/swing, but it was confirmed as a swing. Park Se-hyuk’s foil.
But it wasn’t over until it was over. NC came back with two outs in the ninth inning. With runners on first and third after singles by Son Asub and Park Gun-woo, Martin came to the rescue. He lined a 134-kilometer forkball right down the middle of Hanwha closer Park Sang-won’s third pitch. It went over the right-center field fence for a game-winning three-run shot. Distance 125 meters, 9th of the season. It was his second multi-homer game in as many games after the one against Sajik Lotte on the 13th.
Lee Yong-chan, who came on in the eighth inning, pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief with two strikeouts to improve to 3-2 on the season. In addition to Martin, Son Asub, Park Gun-woo, and Kwon Hee-dong each had two-hit multi-hit games. For Hanwha, closer Park Sang-won suffered his first loss of the season after giving up three runs on four hits (one home run) and one walk in 1.1 innings. 파워볼게임