Tokyo: Australia blanked Chinese Taipei 3-0 to begin Pool C play at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in Tokyo, prevailing in a battle between the two countries expected to battle South Korea for a spot in the knockout round.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the teams traded zeroes for four innings, before Robbie Perkins put Australia on the board with a two-run home run off Chen Po-Yu in the bottom fifth. Chinese Taipei was held to just two singles through six innings, a fourth-inning single by Chang Yu. Alex Wells gave Australia three shutout innings, and Jack O'Loughlin followed with three more scoreless frames.

Chinese Taipei tried to rally with two outs in the top sixth, when Lin An-Ko singled and Chen Chieh-Hsien got hit by a pitch from O'Loughlin. Chinese Taipei had a runner in scoring position for the first time in the game, but Chang Yu grounded out to third to end the inning.

Australia couldn't cash in after loading the bases in the bottom sixth, but tacked on a run in the bottom seventh, as Travis Bazzana, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 major league draft, smacked a solo homer off Chang Yi. Chinese Taipei put together one last rally in the bottom ninth. With one out, Chang Yu reached on a throwing error by third baseman Curtis Mead -- the play was initially ruled out but was overturned following a video review -- and a pinch-hit single by Giljegiljaw Kungkuan brought the tying run to the plate.

Lyle Lin smoked a deep fly to center, bringing thousands of Chinese Taipei fans to their feet, but the ball died just in front of the wall on the warning track for the second out of the inning. Chang Yu advanced to third on the play, and pinch hitter Chang Cheng-Yu represented final hope for Chinese Taipei. Chang, however, grounded out back to pitcher Jon Kennedy to end the rally and the game.

Australia used just three pitchers to cover the nine innings, with Wells, O'Loughlin, and Kennedy each throwing fewer than 50 pitches. During the first round, pitchers are limited to 65 pitches, and those who toss 50 or more must rest for at least four days. Wells (46 pitches), O'Loughlin (44), and Kennedy (40) will all be available against South Korea on Monday.

South Korea will begin its tournament against Czechia later Thursday. Australia's next game will be against Czechia at noon Friday, while Chinese Taipei will play the defending champion Japan at 7 p.m. Friday.