Professional baseball LG Twins pitcher Song Seung-ki delivered an impressive performance in his debut starting appearance.
Song Seung-ki pitched as the starting pitcher against the Hanwha Eagles in a game held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 27th. Last year, he was discharged from the military and returned this year; this was his first debut starting appearance. He threw 94 pitches over 7 innings, allowing 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 5 batters without giving up any runs. He was replaced by Park Myung-keun in the 8th inning.
In the 1st inning, he struck out lead-off hitter Kim Tae-yeon with a 150 km fastball for a three-pitch strikeout. He also struck out Moon Hyun-bin with a 148 km fastball and ended the inning with Floriel grounding out to the second baseman.
He retired the side in order again in the 2nd inning, throwing just 8 pitches. Against the middle of the lineup, No Shi-hwan grounded out to the pitcher, Chae Eun-sung flew out to left field, and Ahn Chi-hong struck out swinging with a 133 km slider. In the 3rd inning, he faced a threat after giving up a double to lead-off hitter Lim Jong-chan. A sacrifice bunt moved the runner to third with one out. He struck out Sim Woo-jun with a slider (130 km) and also struck out Kim Tae-yeon with a 131 km slider, escaping the inning without allowing a run.
He again retired the side in order in the 4th inning, recording a foul fly to the third baseman off Moon Hyun-bin, a flyout to center field by Floriel, and a foul fly to the shortstop by No Shi-hwan to end the inning. The 5th inning was also a three-up, three-down. He handled lead-off hitter Chae Eun-sung with a flyout to the second baseman. He got Ahn Chi-hong out on the seventh pitch for a groundout to the second baseman with two strikes. Lim Jong-chan was retired on a groundout to the pitcher, ending the inning with no runs scored. In the 6th inning, he finished with Choi Jae-hoon flying out to right field, Sim Woo-jun flying out to second base, and Kim Tae-yeon flying out to shortstop, retiring the side in order again.
In the 7th inning, he recorded an out against lead-off hitter Moon Hyun-bin with a foul fly to the third baseman. He allowed Floriel to reach base by throwing 4 balls on 2 strikes. With No Shi-hwan at bat, a wild pitch allowed 1 out and a runner on second. He got No Shi-hwan out on a grounder to the third baseman, leaving 2 outs and a runner on second. Chae Eun-sung grounded out to the third baseman, continuing his scoreless streak.
Chosen by LG in the 2021 draft's second round and 87th overall, Song Seung-ki was discharged from the military last year and returned this year as a fifth starter.
Last year, in 20 games with the Army team, he recorded 11 wins and 4 losses with an earned run average of 2.41, striking out 121 batters, earning the title of league leader in wins, earned run average, and strikeouts. This was his return game after being discharged. In the first team stage from 2022 to 2023, he recorded 1 loss with an earned run average of 4.82 in 8 games (9⅓ innings).
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