The national team’s glorious run in the World Baseball Classic has collapsed after its 6-0 semifinal loss to archrival Japan.

In a rainy PETCO Park in San Diego Saturday evening, Japan took control by scoring five runs in a wild seventh inning, starting with Kosuke Fukudome’s two-run homer.

Japanese starting pitcher Koji Uehara also pitched seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts, as his team finally beat South Korea in its third try of the tournament.

Hitoshi Tamura added to Japan’s lead with a solo homer in the eighth. After a brief rain delay, South Korea continued to struggle offensively in losing its first of the tournament at the worst time.

Slugger Lee Seung-yeop, South Korea’s hero with a tournament-high five home runs, failed to deliver a clutch performance this time, going 0-4 including three strikeouts.