WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL C - KOREA VS AUSTRALIA

March 8, 2026

David Nilsson

Tokyo Dome

Team Australia

Postgame Press Conference

Japan 4, Australia 3

Q. What a great game until the bottom of the 7th. What is in your mind right now?

DAVID NILSSON: With the outcome, you know, we got very close with the best team in the world, and we just couldn't get it over the line. So we did a lot of good things tonight. Yeah, just feeling disappointed that we got that close.

Q. Hey, Dave, tough game today, but what can you say about what Connor MacDonald did on the mound? We talked about the ABL and its importance a few times, and he became a pitcher just three years ago and has only pitched in the ABL.

DAVID NILSSON: Yeah, I think, first of all, really proud of Connor. You know, he carried a pretty big load tonight. It just shows how hard he's worked and how he's used the ABL to prepare for this moment.

Really big stage. Obviously there's not much bigger than tonight. To give us three innings there and not give up any runs is just a real testament to the work he's put in.

Q. Dave, I think I could be on wrong, but I don't think your relievers had given up a run until tonight, and your pitching staff has been pretty excellent throughout the tournament. I'm just wondering today what were your thoughts about the way the pitchers have performed, and also, during the game, did the way the game played out sort of dictate how you were going to use your pitchers, or was it pretty much the way you planned it out the whole night?

DAVID NILSSON: Well, we had a few different plans going into the game, you know, not knowing how the game is going to go and where it's going to turn. So I thought the game worked out really well for us.

You know, we were lined up really well to close it out, and then we just couldn't get through that final out of the 7th inning, which is obviously disappointed. Kennedy did a great job. I haven't seen the replay, what happened at first base. You know, that would have been the third out, obviously, but then he just followed up with he got two strikes and missed with his location.

I think outside of that, you know, we performed really well. 9th inning was a bit of a blemish, but -- sorry, the bottom of the 8th was a bit of a blemish, but it was a good experience for a couple of younger guys that I wanted to -- when we didn't have that lead, I wanted to expose them to that situation.

So yeah, I thought our pitchers did really well.

Q. You have another big game tomorrow, a big chance to get through to the quarter finals. What would it mean to your team to get through Pool C?

DAVID NILSSON: Yeah, look, I think our team has the ability to shake tonight. Obviously there's a lot of emotions after tonight. We had an opportunity to win the pool, right? So, you know, we'll take a while, and then we'll flush that. Then we'll be a good position for tomorrow.

Pitching is lined up really well. The guys are healthy. You know, if we can get through tomorrow, I think that's just a first first, something we're chasing. We come here really feeling good about our opportunity to get through the second round, and we have that opportunity tomorrow.

So I think we're in good shape. Just that first ball was just right there for us.

Q. You just mentioned your pitching is lined up pretty well tomorrow. Can you maybe announce the starting pitcher for tomorrow? How do you build off some of the success you've had in this tournament going to the last game? It's a big game obviously, but given the the number crunching, you don't necessarily have to win the game to get through. So how do you approach the game tomorrow?

DAVID NILSSON: Yeah, first of all, Lachlan Wells will start for us. He's been positioned to start this game since the tournament began. As far as how we're going to play the game, we going to play the game to win. Obviously there is some math to it, but we're just going to play the game to win.

As I said, our position players are healthy. Our pitchers are prepared. Really, no different from tonight. When the other team is hitting, we're going to try to stop them from getting runs, and that's just as simple as it gets.