The Hanwha Eagles and Samsung Lions split a doubleheader.

Hanwha dropped the first game of a doubleheader against Samsung in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League on Sunday at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon, South Korea.

Starting pitcher Kim Ki-joong bounced back with five innings of five-hit ball, one walk, three strikeouts, and two runs, but the bullpen of Kim Kyu-yeon (⅔ innings), Kim Bum-soo (⅓ innings), Yoon Dae-kyung (⅔ innings), Joo Hyun-sang (⅓ innings), Jang Si-hwan (⅓ innings), Park Sang-won (⅓ innings), Lee Min-woo (⅓ innings), Park Jun-young (⅓ innings), and Jang Min-jae (⅔ innings) collapsed. They used a whopping 10 pitchers, but ultimately lost the game. At the plate, Choi In-ho hit his first home run of the season, but it wasn’t enough to save the day.

Samsung’s bats pounded out 13 hits. Koo led the offense, going 3-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs, two runs scored, and two walks. Lee Jae-hyun chipped in with four hits, two doubles, two RBIs and one run scored. Starting pitcher Taylor Widener was unable to pick up the win, allowing two runs on six hits (one home run) with two walks and two strikeouts in six innings of work. The bullpen of Kim Tae-hoon (1 run in ⅔ innings), Lee Jae-ik (1 run in ⅓ innings), Lee Seung-hyun (1 run in ⅔ innings), and Oh Seung-hwan (1 run in 1⅓ innings) preserved the win.

Hanwha took the lead in the bottom of the second inning on a solo home run by Choi In-ho. Samsung answered right back in the top of the third. After Kim Ho-jae walked and Ryu Ji-hyuk singled, Jose Pirela hit an RBI double to tie the game and Koo Ja-rook followed with an RBI single.

After conceding the lead, Hanwha tied the game again in the bottom of the fifth when Lee Do-yoon singled and Lee Jin-young followed with an RBI double. In the seventh inning, Park Jung-hyun led off with a single and Lee Do-yoon hit a grounder to the first baseman that was caught stealing. Lee Jin-young followed with an RBI double to give Hanwha the lead again.

Samsung began to explode in the bottom half of the game. In the top of the eighth, leadoff hitter Koo Ja-rook walked, Kang Min-ho singled, Lee Sung-kyu sacrificed, Lee Jae-hyun doubled, Kim Hyun-joon reached on a throwing error by the center fielder, Yoon Jung-bin singled, and Oh Jae-il singled. In the ninth inning, Pirela singled, Koo Ja-uk singled, Kim Jae-sung singled and scored on an error, Lee Sung-gyu singled, Lee Jae-hyun singled, Kim Hyun-joon singled, Yoon Jung-bin singled, Kim Young-woong doubled, and Ryu Ji-hyeok singled to extend the lead to 11-3 and take the first game of the doubleheader.

Hanwha avenged its Game 1 loss with a 4-0 win in Game 2. Starting pitcher Felix Peña earned his 10th win of the season with six innings of two-hit ball, two walks and five strikeouts. The bullpen of Joo Hyun-sang (one scoreless inning), Kim Bum-soo (one scoreless inning), and Park Sang-won (one scoreless inning) preserved the win. At the plate, Park hit his second home run of the season. Kim In-hwan and Choi In-ho had multi-hit games.

For Samsung, starter Dong-jae Hwang took the loss, allowing two runs on six hits (one home run) in 4⅔ innings with three walks and five strikeouts. At the plate, Koo Ja-rook went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, but was unable to capitalize.

Hanwha got on the board in the bottom of the 토토 fourth inning when Nick Williams led off with a single. Choi In-ho hit a grounder to third to load the bases, but Moon Hyun-bin led off with a double. Park added a run with a solo home run.

With the lead in hand, Hanwha added another run in the eighth after Choi In-ho singled and pinch-hitter Lee Won-seok stole second, followed by Jang Jin-hyuk’s infield single. Jang then stole second and Park Sang-un followed with an RBI single to seal the deal.