South Korean baseball team suffers a setback

South Korea suffered a 5-3 come-from-behind defeat by Australia, which is the champion of last year¡¯s Intercontinental Baseball Championships, in the second match of the Sydney Olympic baseball preliminaries at the Olympic Park Stadium, Monday.

South Korea, in a determination to win the game, employed five pitchers -- Chung Min-Tae, Koo Dae-Sung, Park Seok-Jin, Song Jin-Woo and Lim Chang-Yong, but suffered a setback to Australia which was estimated to be inferior to the United States, Japan and Cuba, thus facing a slim chance to get a medal.

Korea led 3-2 at the bottom of the fourth inning with a single by Lee Byung-Kyu, but David Nilson, a major Leaguer, doubled to make it 3-3 at the top of the seventh.

Relief Lim Chang-Yong (Samsung) allowed a double for two runs to Glenn Reeves with bases loaded after two outs in the top of the eighth.

Led by two runs, Korea got chances in the eighth and ninth with the first batters advancing to the first base, but could not make it. With one win against one loss, South Korea will meet the world champion Cuba Tuesday afternoon.