◆Pre-season game: Softbank Hawks 6-10 Seibu Lions (1st, Ivy Stadium)

Softbank Hawks The third-place Gota Suzuki pitcher = University of Commerce and the second-place Ryuta Inagawa pitcher = Kyushu Kyoritsu University relayed in the eighth and ninth innings.

Suzuki Go took mound first in the eighth inning. He allowed infield hit to leadoff batter Koresawa and walked Takizawa, putting him in a Walk on first and second with no outs. Still, he got Akiyama to ground out to second and struck struck out Hiruma with a powerful fastball. He held on with two outs and runners on second and third, but Hasegawa hit a two-run single to center full count. Reflecting on his first game since joining Group A (equivalent to the first team), Suzuki said, "I went in thinking I'd do it the same way as usual, but I strained myself. I wasn't able to throw the ball like I usually do." Still, he said, "It was good that I was able to struck out out in a pinch situation, and that I also struck out out the last hitter with fork," and said he'll take the two strike out he got when struck out needed them back to Fukuoka as a positive.

Inagawa, who took the mound in the ninth inning, said, "I'll just do it like always," and pushed through with powerful fastballs, retiring the side in order, including two consecutive struck out. His personal best was 152 km/h, but on this day the stadium display showed 155 km/h. "I've been working towards making it to the first team, so it was really fun," he said with a look of satisfaction. Regarding his pitching speed, he said, "I've recovered quite a bit of the fatigue, so I thought I would definitely surpass my personal best once the open games started," indicating that he had anticipated improving his speed by 3 km/h.