James Stuart Australia’s World Baseball Classic campaign came to a heartbreaking end on Monday night, falling 7–2 to Korea in a game where the margin ultimately proved just as important as the result itself. The defeat left Pool C in a three-way tie between Korea, Australia and Chinese Taipei, forcing the tournament’s run quotient tiebreaker into effect. Korea advanced to the quarterfinals as runner-up behind Japan after finishing with the superior ratio of runs scored to def

Australia’s bid for a famous upset at the World Baseball Classic fell just short on Sunday night, with the world number one nation Japan rallying late to secure a 4–3 win at the Tokyo Dome.

Australia notched a second win to start the WBC, handling Czechia to the comfortable tune of 5-1. The result was built on a dominant pitching display that has allowed a mere 7 hits so far in the tournament.