Seoul: South Korea shut out Cuba 2-0 on Friday in a tuneup baseball game held in preparation for an international tournament. South Korea scored a run in each of the first two innings, and eight pitchers combined for a three-hitter in front of 15,783 fans at the 16,100-seat Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. This was the first of two games between the countries ahead of the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 tournament.

According to Yonhap News Agency, both countries are in Group B, along with Japan, Australia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Chinese Taipei, the host country for the preliminary stage from Nov. 13 to 18. The top two teams from Groups A and B will advance to the Super Round, which will be played in Tokyo from Nov. 21 to 24. South Korea won the inaugural Premier12 title in 2015 and finished second to Japan in 2019.

With an eye toward the 2026 World Baseball Classic and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, South Korea will take a young roster, with most of the players expected to be in their e
arly- to mid-20s. Manager Ryu Joong-il brought 35 players to his training camp this week and will cut seven players for the final roster early next week.

South Korea opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. With runners at the corners, Kim Do-yeong hit a towering fly to shallow right field. Second baseman Yadil Mujica gave chase but couldn’t make the catch, allowing Hong Chang-ki to score from third. In the bottom second, South Korea doubled its lead thanks to Lee Ju-hyoung’s RBI single. Song Sung-mun had drawn a one-out walk against starter Yoennis Yera and stolen second base to get himself into scoring position, before Lee, his teammate with the Korea Baseball Organization club Kiwoom Heroes, brought him home.

South Korean starter Gwak Been tossed two shutout innings, while striking out two and giving up one hit. And seven relievers each threw a scoreless inning, while allowing just two hits and recording six strikeouts. These two countries will meet again at 2 p.m. Saturday at the dome.