Cabalisti, Italy Surprise South Korea, 2-1

Italy pulled off the first upset of the baseball tournament, beating Korea, 2-1, behind the pitching of Roberto Cabalisti.

Cabalisti held the Koreans to five hits and shut them out over the final eight innings as he went the distance. The Italians piled on one another in celebration when Cabalisti got a groundout to end the game.

“I’m 35 years old and my career has been up and down,” said Cabalisti, who has a screw in his right elbow from an operation in 1990. “This is certainly the biggest win in my career and I’m going to take the game ball home with me.”

Korea, considered one of the four best teams in the tournament, scored in the first inning when Lee Byoung-kyu led off with a triple to center and Choi Man-ho hit a sacrifice fly.

Cabalisti pitched out of a bases-loaded threat in the second, then settled down. He allowed only one runner over the final four innings, striking out five overall, walking three.

Mun Dong-hwan gave up six hits over eight innings and struck out 11. Francesco Casolari doubled in a run in the first and Pier Paolo Illuminati had a run-scoring single in the fourth.