RI scores another win in Asian Cup baseball tourney

JAKARTA (JP): Host Indonesia scored another win at the fourth Asian Cup Baseball Championship at Bung Karno Baseball Stadium in Central Jakarta, beating Uzbekistan 14-2 in day-five action on Thursday.

In the top of the first, Indonesia failed to capitalize on a scoring opportunity, with fifth-place hitter Gunawan Pramono striking out with runners on first and second.

Uzbekistan also failed to score in the bottom of the inning. With Andrey Korsakov at the plate, Valeriy Mishkin was thrown out at second trying to steal for the third out.

In the second inning, Indonesia scored five runs. With Gilberto Sajogo and Heri Haeruman on base, Ferdian Surjaatmadja slammed a three-run homer.

Indonesia then loaded the bases with one down. Lukmanul Hakim hit a grounder back the pitcher, but Andrey Korsakov bobbled the ball, allowing Tony Pribadi to score.

Gunawan then drove in Michael Trisnadi from third, giving Indonesia a 5-0 lead.

Indonesia added another run in the third when Michael got a two-out hit to drive in Tony.

In the fourth inning, Lukmanul got on base and scored when Gunawan blasted a two-run shot, making it 8-0.

In the top of the fifth, Indonesia exploded for five runs. Michael started the scoring by driving in Ferdian. Then Lukmanul stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and deposited the pitch over the outfield fence for a grand slam and a 13-0 lead. Michael, Andryo Pramono and Tony all trotted home ahead of Lukmanul.

Neither team scored in the sixth inning.

Indonesia scored its final run of the game when Lukmanul led off the seventh by hitting his second homer of the game.

Uzbekistan managed to score twice in the bottom of the seventh, with Alisher Muratbayev driving in Sergei Gribkov and Korsakov plating Mishkin.

The game ended after seven because Indonesia had more than a 10-run lead.

"The game was quite good, interesting and especially tough. My players need more experience, which means more games," Uzbekistan manager Sergey Korjakov told The Jakarta Post through an interpreter.

Korjakov said his team had been playing together for more than one year, but were hampered in the tournament because they did not have enough time to train.

"We only had three months to prepare, but unfortunately it was winter there so we had to practice indoors instead of on the diamond," he said.

In later action on Thursday, Thailand beat Hong Kong 17-7 in seven innings after trailing 6-4 after the fourth.

Thailand tied the game up in the fifth, and then exploded for 10 runs in the sixth. Hong Kong added a run in its half of the sixth, and Thailand scored once more in the seventh to give it the 17-7 win.

Meanwhile in the evening, undefeated Pakistan smashed Malaysia 16-0 after the fifth inning.

The Pakistani side started the onslaught by scoring 11 runs in the first inning. Pakistan added another five runs in the fifth inning to complete the game.

Malaysia will meet Uzbekistan on Friday in a consolation game for fifth and sixth place in the championship.

Saturday's semifinal games will see Pakistan face Hong Kong in the afternoon, and Indonesia and Thailand square off in the evening. The final will be played on Sunday. (nvn)