SUWON-SI, South Korea (Interstat) — In a wild, back-and-forth affair that defied pregame projections and required extra innings to decide, the Doosan Bears outlasted the KT Wiz 8-7 in 11 innings on Friday night at a damp Suwon Baseball Stadium.

The game, played before an announced crowd of 11,337, saw the visiting Bears build an early lead, nearly surrender it entirely in a dramatic seventh-inning rally by the Wiz, and finally secure the victory with a four-run outburst in the top of the 11th. The win improved Doosan’s season record to 4-6-1, while KT fell to 7-4-1.

The contest stood in stark contrast to the pregame analytics. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 7-2 victory for the Wiz, with its ELO system giving KT a 62.3% probability to win. The Wiz were installed as 1.5-run favorites, but the combined 15 runs sailed over the pregame over/under line of 9.5.

Doosan established control from the outset. In the top of the first inning, Park Chan-ho led off with a double and later scored on Park Jun-soon’s single to right field. The Bears added another run in the third when Park Chan-ho walked and scored on Park Jun-soon’s second run-scoring hit of the night, a double to left field.

The lead expanded to 4-0 in the sixth. Yang Eui-ji walked and scored on Daz Cameron’s triple to right-center. Cameron then crossed the plate on Kim Min-seok’s sacrifice fly to center. Bears starter Gwak Been and relievers Tamura Ichiro and Yun Tae-ho effectively silenced the KT bats for the first six innings, limiting the Wiz to just three hits.

The most important part of the game, however, arrived in the bottom of the seventh inning, transforming a comfortable Bears lead into a nail-biter. Trailing 4-0, KT mounted a furious two-out rally against the Doosan bullpen. Ryu Hyun-in and Oh Yoon-suk singled and walked, respectively, to set the table. With the bases loaded, Choi Won-joon drew a walk to force in KT’s first run. Kim Hyun-soo followed with a sharp single to center, plating two more. After another strikeout, Sam Hilliard delivered a clutch single to right, scoring Choi Won-joon to tie the game at 4-4. The Wiz loaded the bases again but could not take the lead, as Ryu Hyun-in grounded out to end the inning. The four-run, four-hit rally completely shifted the momentum and set the stage for extra innings.

Both teams’ offenses went quiet from there, with relievers Han Seung-hyuk, Son Dong-hyun and Sugimoto Koki for KT and Lee Yong-chan for Doosan trading zeros through the ninth and tenth innings.

The deadlock was finally broken in the top of the 11th. Daz Cameron sparked the rally with a double. Kim Min-seok then singled him home, with Kim advancing to second on the throw. A sacrifice bunt moved him to third, and he scored on an error by the KT third baseman. After an intentional walk, An Jae-seok delivered the decisive blow, a two-run single to center field that extended the Doosan lead to 8-4.

Those extra runs proved critical. In the bottom of the 11th, KT refused to go quietly. Facing Doosan reliever Kim Taek-yeon, the Wiz staged one final rally. They scored three runs on a combination of hits and defensive miscues, closing the gap to a single run. With the potential tying run on base, Kim Taek-yeon secured the final out, sealing the exhausting 8-7 victory for the Bears.

The teams will continue their series at Suwon Baseball Stadium on Saturday.