Changwon, South Korea — NC Dinos infielder Seo Ho-cheol delivered an unprecedented performance in his first Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason game on Thursday night. Seo hit a grand slam and collected six RBIs in his team's 14-9 wild card win over the Doosan Bears.
Yonhap News Agency reported that Seo's grand slam, delivered at Changwon NC Park, was the first in the history of the KBO wild card game, which started in 2015. His six RBIs also set a new record for a wild card game.
Despite the limelight, this level of performance was highly uncharacteristic for the 27-year-old Seo. Before this game, he had never driven in more than three runs in any of his 205 career regular-season appearances and had hit only seven career home runs.
Seo was drafted in the ninth round by the Dinos in 2018 and made his KBO debut in May 2020. Although he missed the 2020 and 2021 postseasons due to mandatory military service and his team's absence from the playoffs, Seo had a career-best year this season.
Seo played in 114 games this season and posted a batting line of .287/.331/.383 with five homers and 41 RBIs, despite facing a series of injuries. He suffered from a head injury in April, a pinky injury in August, and broke his nose in September. Additionally, an ankle injury in October sidelined him during the last week of the regular season.
His return to the lineup for the postseason proved to be timely, as he was voted the MVP of the game for his contributions in the win over the Bears.
This wild card win was also notable for the Dinos' home venue, Changwon NC Park, which opened in 2019. The Dinos had previously missed postseason opportunities, but this victory has earned them a spot in the best-of-five first round against the SSG Landers, starting Sunday.