The NC Dinos of professional baseball broke a five-game losing streak by exploding with 13 hits and 16 runs against the league's top ERA team, the Hanwha Eagles.
NC reversed a deficit to win 16-5 in a home game against the Hanwha Eagles at Changwon NC Park on Nov. 1, 2025. Trailing 2-3, pinch hitter Oh Young-soo hit a game-winning grand slam home run on the first pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning, while Han Seok-hyun recorded a multi-home run day, including an inside-the-park home run, and drove in five runs in total. Kwon Hee-dong also had three hits and one RBIs as NC exploded for a season-high 16 runs.
Recently escaping a five-game losing streak, the eighth-place NC improved to 24 wins, 27 losses, and 3 ties (win percentage .471). Hanwha, which allowed a season-high 14 runs, saw its two-game winning streak end and maintained second place with 34 wins and 24 losses (win percentage .586).
The early part of the game was dominated by Hanwha. They scored three runs starting in the first inning. Against NC right-hander Lee Jun-hyuk, who made his debut as a starter, Estevan Florial, the leadoff batter, got a single to right field and successfully stole second base. After a wild pitch from Lee, Florial advanced to second base and scored on Moon Hyun-bin's ground ball to second base.
With two outs and no runners on base, Roh Si-hwan walked and then Chang Eun-seong hit a two-run home run. He pulled Lee Jun-hyuk's second pitch, a fastball clocked at 147 km/h, over the left field fence, with a distance of 115m, marking his ninth home run of the season. Chang hit home runs in all three games of this series, continuing a surge with seven home runs over the last 12 games.
NC responded with a home run. In the bottom of the second inning, with one out and one runner on base after a walk to Kim Hwi-jip, Han Seok-hyun hit a two-run home run off Hanwha's left-handed starter Hwang Jun-seo. He connected perfectly with a low fastball, clocked at 141 km/h, that came right down the middle. The distance was 120m, marking his second home run of the season.
After being subdued by Hanwha's starter Hwang Jun-seo and failing to add more runs until the fifth inning, NC seized an opportunity in the bottom of the sixth. After two outs, Kwon Hee-dong hit a double down the left field line, and Kim Hwi-jip drew a walk after a full-count battle, connecting the 1 and 2 base opportunity. The inning quickly turned into a bases-loaded situation when Cheon Jae-hwan was hit by a pitch.
Hanwha replaced Hwang Jun-seo after he threw 92 pitches, bringing in Ju Hyun-sang. NC also substituted Oh Young-soo to bat for Kim Jeong-ho. Oh seized the opportunity to hit a 146 km/h fastball from the new pitcher Ju Hyun-sang on the first pitch over the right-field fence, with a distance of 120m, marking his second home run of the season. This was also his first grand slam home run, giving NC a quick lead of 6-3.
However, Hanwha did not give up easily. Shortly after, in the top of the seventh inning with one out, Ha Ju-suk started a counterattack with a single to right field. Despite NC replacing their pitcher from Son Joo-hwan to left-handed Lim Jeong-ho, left-handed batter Moon Hyun-bin took advantage of the first pitch slider and hit a one-RBI triple down the right field line. NC changed pitchers again to Bae Jae-hwan, but during Chang Eun-seong's at-bat, a slider on the fourth pitch turned into a wild pitch, allowing the runner on third base, Moon Hyun-bin, to score. They narrowed the gap to one run at 5-6.
But NC’s Bae Jae-hwan struck out Chang Eun-seong to end the top of the seventh, and then in the bottom of the seventh, they exploded for seven runs in a big inning to take control of the game. Against Hanwha’s reliever Cho Dong-uk, after one out, Kim Joo-won hit a single to right field, followed by a single to left field by Park Geon-woo, then Cheon Jae-hwan hit a two-RBI double to right-center, and Kwon Hee-dong delivered a one-RBI single to left field, and Kim Hwi-jip hit a timely single up the middle, extending the lead to 10-5.
In the ongoing two outs with runners on first and second, Han Seok-hyun faced Hanwha pitcher Won Jong-hyuk, who was making his first-team debut. He launched a line drive that went over the head of the center fielder. Hanwha's center fielder Florial attempted a jump catch but couldn't hold on, causing the ball to bounce off Florial's glove. In the midst of this, both the runners on first and second, and Han Seok-hyun, scored. It was an inside-the-park home run. Han Seok-hyun recorded two hits and five RBIs in four at-bats, while Kwon Hee-dong contributed three hits, including a double, in four at-bats with one RBI.
NC’s fourth pitcher Son Joo-hwan had a season record of 5 wins (1 loss) with 1⅓ innings pitched and one earned run. Bae Jae-hwan pitched 1⅔ innings until the eighth inning, striking out three without allowing any runs, achieving his seventh hold of the season. Hanwha starter Hwang Jun-seo pitched 5⅔ innings, giving up four hits (one home run), four walks, and six strikeouts, allowing five earned runs for his second loss of the season. He was taken out while he met the requirements for a win, but it was unfortunate that he created a bases-loaded crisis in the bottom of the sixth, which led to Ju Hyun-sang giving up the grand slam home run. He showed potential with a total of 92 pitches, averaging 143 km/h with a maximum speed of 147 km/h, focusing on fastballs (56 pitches), with forkballs (28 pitches), curves (7 pitches), and sliders (1 pitch).
However, Hanwha's pitchers, including Hwang Jun-seo, Ju Hyun-sang with 1 earned run in ⅓ inning, Cho Dong-uk with 3 earned runs in ⅓ inning, Jeong Woo-joo with 2 earned runs in 0 innings, Won Jong-hyuk with 2 earned runs in ⅔ inning, and Kim Seung-il with 1 earned run in ⅓ inning, and all seven pitchers allowed runs. The total earned runs of 16 raised the team’s ERA from 3.34 to 3.56.
[OSEN]