Taipei, Nov. 12 (CNA) Lin Chih-sheng's game-winning hit led Taiwan to a tough 1-0 victory over Italy in the Baseball World Cup Monday. Taiwan tied the U.S. 4-1 in Group A after the crucial match in the preliminary round.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and runners on first and second base, Lin Chih-sheng's base hit sent Yeh Chun-chang home for the winning run and the home crowd crazy as well.
Another Lin -- Taiwan starting pitcher Lin En-yu -- had 13 strikeouts in the shutout. The 26-year-old right-hander, who is playing for Japan's professional team Rakuten Golden Eagles, pitched Taiwan to the victory with one of the best performances in his national team career by delivering 13 strikeouts in the shutout.
Lin Chih-sheng produced his third game-winning hit this past year in the major tournaments. He had a game-winning homerun in the game versus South Korea's Samsung Lions in the 2006 Konami Cup. Less than four weeks later, Lin's game-winning hit helped Taiwan beat Japan in the gold medal game in Doha Asian Games.
Both team had trouble to produce a hit, let alone a run in the first eight innings. Italian starter James Fiore, who briefly played in Taiwan in July, had seven strikeouts in seven innings before being relieved. Taiwan had six hits in the game while Italy had four.
The game was scheduled to be played Nov. 6, the opening day of the tournament, but was rained out. It was the only game Monday. The preliminary round games resume Tuesday in Taichung and Taipei.
As each team has two games left to play in the preliminary round, Taiwan was in a comfortable position to advance to the quarterfinal round after the crucial victory by defeating Italy and Japan, which tied with Panama at 3-2.
The sixteen teams participating in the tournament are divided into two preliminary groups in the biennial tournament, which runs through to Nov. 18, with games being played in four baseball stadiums in Taipei and Taichung. The top four teams in Group A and Group B will advance to the quarterfinal round.