Bandits Held in Check Early, Fall to Heat 6–2 Despite Late Innings Push

PERTH, Australia — Tucker Smith struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings and the Perth Heat used a pair of multi-run frames to beat the Brisbane Bandits 6–2 on Thursday night at NSR Hire Ballpark.

Smith (3-2) scattered five hits and did not issue a walk, retiring 14 of the final 15 batters he faced as Perth snapped a brief skid and kept Brisbane off the board until the eighth inning.

The Heat broke the game open in the fourth, scoring three times on back-to-back homers. Drake Logan launched a two-run shot to right, and Leonardo Pineda followed with a solo drive to make it 3–0. Perth added three more runs in the fifth, highlighted by Nicandro Aybar’s two-run homer, stretching the lead to 6–0.

Brisbane starter Matt Beattie (0-2) was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs on three hits over 3.1 innings. Luke Krkovski surrendered three runs in relief, while Seung-Won Hong and Ryo Kohigashi combined for two scoreless innings out of the bullpen to keep the game within reach.

The Bandits finished with eight hits but went just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left six on base. Will Riley had two hits, including a double, and Noah Barber added two singles. Brisbane finally got on the board in the eighth when Liam MacDonald doubled and later scored, and added another run in the ninth on a two-out RBI single by Seung-Min Ryu, recording his first ABL career hit and RBI.

Perth’s bullpen closed it out with Jai Hewitt and Warwick Saupold combining to allow two runs over the final two innings.

The Bandits return to action tomorrow against the Heat in game two of the sixth round with first pitch at 9 p.m. Fans can tune in to the action on Baseball+, while fans in Japan and Taiwan can turn to DAZN Japan.