South Korea eliminates Australia from the World Baseball Classic

South Korean National Baseball Team Uniform Logo (Wikimedia Commons)

Australia has been eliminated from the World Baseball Classic. On Monday, Australia was beaten 7-2 by South Korea and did not advance to the quarterfinals as a result.

Australia, South Korea, and Chinese Taipei were all actually tied for second place at two wins and two losses. The three teams in Pool C all beat each other as Australia beat Chinese Taipei 3-0 on Thursday and Chinese Taipei beat South Korea 5-4 in 10 innings on Sunday. Due to the fact Australia, South Korea and Chinese Taipei all had records of one win and one loss against each other, a tie-breaking formula was used to determine who was going to finish in second place. The formula used was dividing a team’s total runs allowed by defensive outs. In the games played among the tied teams, South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Australia all gave up seven earned runs. However, South Korea got through because they had 57 defensive outs, while Australia and Chinese Taipei had 54 defensive outs. South Korea’s result in the mathematical formula was .123, while Australia and Chinese Taipei were at .130.

South Korea is one of two teams who have already qualified for the quarterfinals. The other is Team Japan, which won Pool C with a record of three wins and zero losses. Japan has beaten Chinese Taipei 13-0, South Korea 8-6 and Australia 4-3.

Japan is one of seven countries in the tournament undefeated so far. They are joined by Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, Italy, Dominican Republic and Venezuela. The quarterfinals begin on Friday, March 13 from Houston and Miami.