DAEJEON, South Korea (Interstat) — A tight KBO series concludes Thursday evening when the Doosan Bears visit the Hanwha Eagles at Daejeon Hanbat Baseball Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. under cloudy skies and 71 degrees.

Doosan (35-37-2) and Hanwha (34-36-2) are separated by just half a game in the standings. The Bears took the opener 7-2 on Wednesday, but the Eagles won Tuesday’s matchup 3-2.

Doosan right-hander Choi Min-seok has been the KBO’s most dominant starter of late. The 26-year-old enters Thursday on a four-start winning streak, allowing just two earned runs over 26 innings in that span. In Wednesday’s win over Hanwha, he tossed six scoreless innings with six strikeouts, scattering two hits. Over his past five starts, Choi has a 1.50 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 30 innings, the lone blemish a 4-run outing against Samsung on May 31.

Hanwha will counter with reliever Hwang Jun-seo, who has been a steady presence in the Eagles bullpen. The 24-year-old worked two scoreless innings Wednesday, allowing four hits but no runs. Hwang has not allowed an earned run in four of his past six appearances, spanning 8 2/3 innings. He has a 2.70 ERA over his last seven outings.

The season series is tightly contested. Hanwha holds a 5-4 edge with one tie in 10 meetings. The Eagles swept a three-game set in Daejeon from May 22-24, but Doosan won two of three at home in early June and split a two-game set earlier this week.

In Wednesday’s 7-2 Doosan victory, second baseman Park Jun-soon went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs, and left fielder Kim Min-suk added a solo homer. For Hanwha, third baseman Roh Si-hwan homered in the loss.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a 2-1 Doosan victory, though its Elo model gives Hanwha a 57% win probability.

Doosan opens a three-game home series against Kia on Friday. The Eagles travel to face Shinsegae Landers for a weekend series.