Lee Ho-jun, the NC Dinos manager, got his wish and fulfilled his part. Ultimately, he laid the foundation for a narrow victory after a close game.

The NC Dinos won 4-3 against the Hanwha Eagles in a Korea Professional Baseball regular season game held at Ulsan Munsu Stadium on the 22nd. With this victory, NC marked its second consecutive win, achieving a record of 22 wins, 22 losses, and 1 tie, reaching a .500 winning percentage.

On this day, NC had to face Hanwha's ace, Cody Ponce, who is currently the best ace in the league. Ponce set a new record for the most strikeouts in a nine-inning game with 18 during his starting appearance in the first game of a doubleheader against the SSG Landers in Daejeon on the 17th. He threw 8 innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 18 without allowing any runs, showcasing a remarkable performance.

However, Ponce threw 113 pitches on this day and had thrown over 100 pitches in five consecutive games before taking a 4-day rest to come to the mound. NC's Lee Ho-jun noted, "First of all, we need to be aggressive from the first pitch. When we get to 2 strikes, he has many pitches to throw and pitches perfectly, so it's tough. However, with a 4-day rest before this game, will he throw over 100 pitches again? It's true that he is a challenging pitcher and that it's a tough game, but if our starting pitcher, Kim Nok-won, can hold on well, I think we might have a chance to compete later in the game," expressing hidden confidence.

In the end, things went as NC hoped. NC's batters could not be said to have completely dismantled Ponce. However, they aggressively hit and got on base, actively moving around the bases, while other batters stubbornly held on and quickly accumulated Ponce's fatigue. In the first inning, Park Min-woo's hit and a stolen base, along with Park Gun-woo's timely hit, brought in the first run. Even in the second inning, which flipped to 1-2, after one out, Cheon Jae-hwan's single to left field and his stolen base led to second and third base, where Park Se-hyeok's timely hit to right field tied the game at 2-2. Except for the last inning in the 5th, they did not leave Ponce alone.

In the end, NC pulled Ponce from the game in the 5th inning. He left the mound after recording 5 innings, 5 hits allowed, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs. His pitch count was 89. Hanwha's bench decided not to put Ponce in for the 6th inning, as he had already thrown a lot of pitches after a 4-day rest.

Kim Nok-won left the mound in the top of the 6th with runners on base, and while the bullpen allowed runs, NC found itself in a losing position at 2-3. However, Kim put up a strong performance with 5⅓ innings, allowing 3 hits (1 home run), 3 walks, striking out 5, and giving up 3 earned runs. He did not succumb to pressure against Ponce and effectively shut down the Hanwha lineup.

NC's strategy was successful. Trailing 2-3, NC immediately counterattacked against the Hanwha bullpen in the bottom of the 6th. After two outs, their concentration stood out. With back-to-back hits from Seo Ho-cheol and Cheon Jae-hwan, NC created a 1st and 2nd base opportunity with two outs, and Park Se-hyeok's timely double to the left side tied the game at 3-3. Then, Kim Hwi-jip's infield hit to shortstop turned things around to 4-3. From the 7th inning onward, the bullpen of Kim Jin-ho, Bae Jae-hwan, and Ryu Jin-wook was brought in to secure the narrow victory by one run.

Park Se-hyeok, the catcher who played a key role in targeting Ponce and worked well with Kim Nok-won, said, "It wasn't important that I got a hit today, but it's because (Kim) Nok-won pitched so well. I want to thank him for holding on well, even though he could have wavered. We won against the pitcher who is currently pitching the best in the league. Today's victory is a result of us truly coming together as one. (Park) Gun-woo got a hit, and (Park) Min-woo also got a hit. (Son) A-seop-hyung also supported from behind. The entire team gained great confidence," he emphasized.

Manager Lee Ho-jun was also elated with the victory. He conveyed, "Today's win is thanks to the passionate support of the fans. Even in tight situations, the players displayed high concentration, and the batters persistently battled against the opposing ace, Ponce, laying the groundwork for victory."

He praised Park Se-hyeok as well. The manager emphasized, "Park Se-hyeok had an outstanding performance both offensively and defensively. In particular, he led the young pitchers well and became the center of the team's victory."

NC now heads back on the road, traveling to Jamsil to face Doosan in a weekend three-game series.

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