Professional baseball team NC Dinos kept their faint hopes alive for the postseason.

NC defeated the Hanwha Eagles 8-7 in a home game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League held at NC Park in Changwon on September 25, fueled by a massive 7-run concentration in the first inning alone.

With the win, sixth-placed NC narrowed the gap with the fifth-placed Doosan Bears to 6.5 games, keeping their slim playoff hopes alive.

In the game held on Chuseok evening, NC's batting lineup exploded right from the start of the game, taking a commanding 7-0 lead.

Batting around the order against Hanwha starting pitcher Owen White, NC collected 7 hits and 2 walks or hit-by-pitches, setting the record for the 8th time in KBO history that all starting batters reached base in the first inning.

NC added another run in the bottom of the 3rd inning with an RBI single by Chun Jae-hwan, extending their lead to 8-0.

Hanwha launched a counterattack in the top of the 4th inning when Kang Baek-ho hit a two-run homer.

In the top of the 6th inning, Huh In-seo hit a solo home run over left-center, narrowing the score to 3-8.

Showing persistent resilience, Hanwha scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th inning during their final attack, sparked by Kwon Kwang-min's double and Huh In-seo's RBI single, but fell short by a single run.

NC starting pitcher Koo Chang-mo pitched 6 innings, allowing 5 hits and 3 runs (2 earned) with 4 strikeouts, earning his 11th win (7 losses) of the season.

Hanwha's White became the losing pitcher after giving up 7 hits, 2 walks or hit-by-pitches, and 7 runs (6 earned) in 1 inning.

Ninth-placed Hanwha collapsed early due to White's shaky performance and fell into a 10-game losing slump.

Meanwhile, the games between the Lotte Giants and Doosan Bears in Jamsil and the Samsung Lions and SSG Landers in Incheon, which were scheduled to be held on this day, were canceled due to rain.

(Photo courtesy of NC Dinos, Yonhap News)