INCHEON, South Korea (Interstat) — The Shinsegae Landers defeated the KT Wiz 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at Munhak Baseball Stadium before an announced crowd of 22,655.

The Landers improved to 15-8 across all competitions, while the Wiz fell to 16-8. Shinsegae outhit KT 7-5 and used a two-run homer from third baseman Choi Jeong in the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie and seal the victory.

Right-hander Takeda Shota, making his second start of the season after a disastrous outing against Doosan on April 14, delivered five scoreless innings for Shinsegae. He allowed three hits, walked none and struck out six while lowering his earned-run average significantly. Takeda’s performance was the foundation of a pitching staff that combined to allow one run on five hits over nine innings.

KT starter Ko Young-pyo was nearly as effective over his five innings, surrendering six hits and two earned runs while striking out five and walking one. He left with the game tied 1-1 after five, but the Landers took the lead in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Kim Jae-hwan that scored Choi Ji-hoon, who had doubled.

The Wiz tied the game in the top of the eighth on a solo home run by right fielder Choi Won-joon, his first of the season. Choi drove a 1-1 pitch from reliever Noh Kyung-eun over the right-field wall. But the tie lasted only a half-inning. In the bottom of the eighth, Choi Jeong connected off KT reliever Han Seung-hyuk for a towering homer to left field, scoring the decisive run. It was Choi’s second hit of the game – he finished 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.

Choi Won-joon’s solo shot was his only hit in four at-bats. He also grounded out twice and reached on a fielder’s choice. KT’s other hits came from Kim Sang-su, Lee Gang-min, Oh Yoon-suk and Kim Min-hyeok, each with a single. Shinsegae’s seven hits included two by Choi Jeong, a double by Choi Ji-hoon, singles from Kim Jae-hwan, Oh Tae-gon, Park Seong-han and Jeong Jun-jae, and a walk by Guillermo Heredia.

The game was scoreless through the first two innings. KT scratched across its only run of the first seven frames in the top of the third when no runs actually scored – the scoring began in the bottom of the third. With the game still 0-0, Shinsegae’s Jeong Jun-jae singled, stole second and scored on a single by Choi Jeong. That tied the game 1-1. Shinsegae took the lead for the first time in the fourth on Kim Jae-hwan’s RBI single.

KT managed to put two runners on base in the fifth when Oh Yoon-suk singled and Kang Hyeon-woo walked with one out, but Lee Gang-min grounded into a fielder’s choice and Choi Won-joon grounded out to end the threat. The Wiz mounted another threat in the eighth after Choi Won-joon’s homer, as Kim Hyun-soo walked and Jang Sung-woo was intentionally walked, but Sam Hilliard flied out to left to end the inning.

Shinsegae’s bullpen shut down KT after Takeda departed. Kim Min threw a perfect sixth inning with one strikeout. Noh Kyung-eun worked the seventh and allowed only the home run to Choi Won-joon. Jo Byeong-hyeon pitched a perfect eighth with one strikeout, and Jeon Yong-ju closed the ninth with a perfect inning and a strikeout for his first save. For KT, Sugimoto Koki and Jeon Yong-ju each threw a scoreless inning of relief, with Sugimoto striking out one and Jeon striking out one.

The game marked the second straight head-to-head meeting between the two teams at Munhak, following Shinsegae’s 5-0 win on Friday. The series concludes Sunday.

Both teams entered with nearly identical records, and the pitching matchup featured two veteran right-handers. Ko Young-pyo worked efficiently through the first three innings, but the Landers broke through in the third when Jeong Jun-jae’s single and stolen base set up Choi Jeong’s game-tying knock. In the fourth, Choi Ji-hoon doubled down the right-field line and scored on Kim Jae-hwan’s single up the middle. Oh Tae-gon followed with a single, but Ko induced a popout and a strikeout to escape further damage.

KT’s offense managed only one hit through the first four innings, a single by Kim Sang-su in the second. The Wiz finally got to Takeda in the fifth with a single and a walk, but could not score. Takeda, who had allowed five earned runs in two innings against Doosan in his previous start, retired the side in order in the first, third and fourth innings. He struck out the side in the fourth.

Choi Jeong’s two-run homer in the eighth was the most important play of the game. With the score tied 1-1, he turned on a first-pitch fastball from Han Seung-hyuk and sent it deep to left. The blast gave Shinsegae a 3-1 lead that stood. Han took the loss after allowing one hit and one earned run in one inning.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of KT Wiz 7, Shinsegae Landers 5. Interstat’s ELO system projected KT with a 50.10 percent probability to win. Shinsegae was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of plus-1.5. The total score of three runs went over the over/under line of 9.0.