Taiwan falls 2-4 to Nicaragua in U23 Baseball World Cup | Taiwan News | Nov. 8, 2026 16:11

Taiwan suffered its first preliminary-round loss at the U23 Baseball World Cup on Saturday, falling 4-2 to host Nicaragua in its second Group A game in Managua. Taiwan starter Wang Hsuan-chi struggled in the opening inning, allowing three runs on three hits before being replaced by Lei Hao-po. Lei responded with 5 2/3 scoreless innings, yielding one hit and striking out four. Taiwan’s comeback began in the third with four straight hits, including RBIs from Chung Huai-yi in the sixth to make it 3-2. Nicaragua added an insurance run in the seventh. Taiwan finished with nine hits and stranded runners in the seventh; Tsai Shih-chieh and Liu Cheng-yu each had two hits. Taiwan next plays Panama on Monday.