Tsuyoshi Nishioka drove in three runs and Hideaki Wakui made his second consecutive strong start Tuesday to lift Japan to a 10-0 rout of China and clinch a spot in the semifinals of the Beijing Olympic baseball tournament.
Takahiko G.G. Sato, Akihiro Yano and Nishioka delivered run-scoring hits in a three-run second inning at Wukesong Baseball Field and Japan cruised to win a game that was called after seven innings under the mercy rule while improving its record to 4-2 in the preliminary round.
Undefeated South Korea went through to the semifinals as the winner of round-robin play after a 7-4 win over three-time gold medalist Cuba, which has been guaranteed second place and also qualified.