U23 World Cup》Taiwan team had 8 hits but lacked a key shot and was shut out. Might they fall into the rankings?

Taiwan's starting left-hander Wu Chenghao. (Taken from WBSC official website)

[Sports Center/Comprehensive Report] In the U23 World Cup baseball match, the Taiwan team hit 8 hits, but unfortunately lacked a timely hit. In the end, the Taiwan team was shut out by Puerto Rico 0-1. The Taiwan team's record in the Group A group stage was 2 wins and 3 losses.

The Taiwan team's first inning relied on 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 out to occupy the bases. However, Cai Qinjie struck out and Wu Baixuan hit a ground ball to seal the game, and failed to score any points. In the second inning, the Taiwanese team captured the first and second bases with two outs, and in the third inning, the Taiwanese team captured the first and second bases with one out, but the Taiwan team's line attempts were in vain. In the 5th inning, the Taiwanese team captured third base with 2 outs. Cai Qinjie hit a ground ball and was out, leaving the remaining base again.

Taiwan's starting left-hander Wu Chenghao issued two walks and a wild pitch in the first inning, allowing his opponent to take first and third base with one out. Wu Chenghao resolved the crisis with a strikeout. In the second inning, Wu Chenghao got 2 hits and 1 walk, allowing his opponent to occupy the bases. Wu Chenghao finally allowed the opponent to hit a ground ball and was out of danger again. Wu Chenghao did not drop points in the first 4 games.

However, in the fifth inning, Puerto Rico relied on a surprise bunt to score an infield hit and successfully stole a base, allowing Puerto Rico to capture second base with no outs. With one out, Randal Diaz hit a timely hit between first and second base to score the only run of the game.

In the 6th inning, the Taiwan team played 3 up and 3 down. After 2 outs in the 7th inning, Zheng Junwei hit a hit, but Huang Bairui hit a fly ball and was caught. In the end, the Taiwan team was shut out.

The Taiwanese team had 8 hits in the entire game, more than Puerto Rico's 5 hits, but they lacked a timely hit. Wu Chenghao started 5 innings and allowed 5 hits and 1 run, 7 strikeouts and 3 walks.

The Taiwan team was placed in Group A in this U23 World Cup, with Puerto Rico, Panama, Australia, the Czech Republic and Nicaragua. The top three teams in the group advanced to the semi-finals. The Taiwanese team has a record of 2 wins and 3 losses in the preliminaries. Whether it can advance to the semi-finals will depend on the performance of other teams.

In the 2022 U23 World Cup, the Taiwan team finished in third place. But in the 2024 U23 World Cup, the Taiwan team ended in 8th place.

(First submission time: 0754; Update time: 1146)