INCHEON (Interstat) — Shinsegae Landers’ starter Veneziano threw seven dominant innings and the Landers broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning to defeat the KT Wiz 7-0 on Sunday afternoon at Munhak Baseball Stadium.

Veneziano scattered two hits, walked none and struck out eight, lowering his earned-run average after a pair of rough outings. The right-hander allowed five earned runs in each of his previous two starts, but he retired the side in order in three of his seven innings and never faced more than four batters in any frame.

The Landers improved to 26-32-2 with the win, evening the three-game series after dropping the opener 7-3 on Saturday. KT, which won the first game of the series Friday 6-5, fell to 34-24-1.

Shinsegae struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Park Seong-han led off with a single to center field and moved to second on an error by the center fielder. After Jeong Jun-jae sacrificed Park to third, Guillermo Heredia deposited a 1-0 pitch over the left-field wall for a two-run homer, giving the Landers a 2-0 lead.

KT starter Oh Won-seok settled down for the next three innings, allowing only a single in the third and a walk in the fourth while striking out seven. But the Landers broke through again in the fifth.

Choi Ji-hoon singled to right to start the inning and stole second. Cho Hyeong-woo doubled to right-center, scoring Choi and making it 3-0. After Kim Min-jun fouled out, Park Seong-han walked, putting runners at first and second. With Cho on third, a passed ball allowed Cho to score, extending the lead to 4-0. Jeong Jun-jae then singled to right, and after Heredia fouled out, Park Seong-han scored on a play in which the ball was mishandled by the defense, making it 5-0. Heredia then delivered an infield single that scored Jeong for a 6-0 advantage. Later in the inning, Kim Jae-hwan was hit by a pitch, and Jeon Ui-san singled to center-left to bring home Kim, capping the rally at 7-0.

Oh Won-seok was charged with all seven runs, eight hits and a walk over five innings. He struck out seven but allowed the big inning that decided the game. Lee Sang-dong, Jeon Yong-ju and Kim Min-su each pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the Wiz, combining for three hits allowed and two strikeouts.

KT’s offense never mounted a serious threat against Veneziano. The Wiz managed only two hits in the game — both singles. Kim Min-hyeok singled down the left-field line in the first inning, and Sam Hilliard hit an infield single in the fourth. Hilliard advanced to second on a walk to Heo Kyoung-min, but Kim Sang-su struck out and Han Seung-taek grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

The Wiz put two runners on base in the eighth inning after Veneziano had departed. Choi Won-joon walked and Kim Hyun-soo also walked, but Lee Jae-won flied out to right to end the threat. Han Doo-sol, Jeon Young-jun and Jeong Jun-jae — the latter the second baseman who also pitched a scoreless ninth — combined for three hitless innings of relief to preserve the shutout.

Heredia finished 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs. Jeong Jun-jae went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a sacrifice bunt. Choi Ji-hoon scored once from the leadoff spot. Kim Hyun-soo, batting as the designated hitter for KT, went 0-for-3 with a walk.

The game featured several check-swing appeals and a dropped third strike for the Wiz in the seventh and eighth innings, but the Landers’ defense and pitching were never seriously tested. KT’s only other scoring chance came in the fourth when Hilliard singled and Heo walked, but a strikeout and fielder’s choice ended the inning.

The series concludes with Shinsegae earning a split after dropping the first two games of the three-game set. The Landers moved to 3-5 against KT this season, with the teams set to meet again later in June.

KT returns home Tuesday to begin a three-game series against the Samsung Lions at its own ballpark. Shinsegae travels to Seoul to face the LG Twins Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of KT Wiz 5, Shinsegae Landers 2. Interstatl’s ELO system had projected KT with a 54.40 percent probability to win. KT had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 6 went over the over/under line of 9.5.