Former Warrior Randel wins season opener with Doosan

4-2-08

Former Lewis-Clark State College pitcher Matt Randel won his debut in the season opener for the Doosan Bears on Tuesday in the Korean Baseball Organization, the professional baseball league in Korea. 

Randel, who is in his fourth year of pitching for the Seoul-based Bears, went 5.1 innings and allowed four hits and no runs. 

Randel, who played at LCSC for two seasons in 1996 and ’97, is the ace of the Bears’ staff this season. A year ago, he went 12-5 with a 3.12 earned run average despite struggling with an elbow injury during the later half of the season. 

The Bears made it to the Korean Series a year ago, but lost. The team, which has been around since 1982, has won three titles, but none while Randel has been with the team. The Bears also finished second in 2005. 

Randel transferred to LCSC before the 1996 season and posted an 8-0 record with a 2.09 earned run average. He was named the team’s Most Outstanding Player. A year later, he went 8-2 with a 4.76 ERA. He made 13 starters and threw one complete game that season, and struck out a team-high 82 in 81.1 innings. 

Randel bounced around in the minor league and led Fort Worth in ERA one season at 3.05. 

Randel played four years in Japan, including two years with the Fukuoka Hawks and two years with the Tokyo Giants. His most famous game came on March 9, 2004 when Yomiuri faced the New York Yankees in Japan in an exhibition game. The Yankees won the contest 6-2 and Derek Jeter smacked a solo home run off Randel in the fifth inning. 

He’s been one of the top pitchers in Korea and was named to the 2006 All-Star Team. He entered this season with a combined record of 42-23 and a 3.05 ERA over the last three seasons with the Bears.