Kim Tae-yean of the Hanwha Eagles flips his bat after hitting a solo home run against the Kia Tigers during a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon, some 140 kilometers south of Seoul, March 28. Yonhap

The Hanwha Eagles staged a late comeback to win their first regular-season game at their new stadium Friday.

The Eagles defeated the defending champions Kia Tigers 7-2 at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon, some 140 kilometers south of Seoul, with a sellout crowd of 17,000 on hand for the Eagles' home opener.

The Eagles moved out of Hanwha Life Eagles Park, the oldest stadium in the Korea Baseball Organization, after the 2024 season. The new stadium initially had a proposed capacity of 20,007 seats but the capacity was reduced to 17,000 after accounting for unreserved lawn seats and an infinity pool.

The Eagles trailed 2-0 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, having been shut down by Tigers starter James Naile. But then the Eagles scored five runs with two outs in that inning against a shaky Tigers bullpen.

Kim Tae-yean began the rally with a solo home run off Jeon Sang-hyun, who proceeded to walk the next two batters.

New pitcher Kwak Do-gyu then walked another batter to load the bases, and then issued a free pass to Hwang Young-mook to force in the tying run.

Kwak then nailed Choi In-ho with a pitch, as the Eagles took a 3-2 lead.

Estevan Florial then delivered a big blow with a two-run double that put the Eagles up 5-2.

The Eagles tacked on two more runs in the seventh inning and made a winner out of the starter Cody Ponce, who gave up two runs in seven innings and struck out eight.

The Eagles snapped their four-game losing streak and handed the Tigers their third straight loss. (Yonhap)