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

Softbank Hawks 's third-round draft pick, pitcher Gota Suzuki (Osaka University of Commerce), and second-round pitcher Ryuta Inagawa (Kyushu Kyoritsu University), pitched 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 took the mound in the ninth inning, saying, "I'll do it as usual," and threw a powerful fastball, striking out two batters in a row and retiring struck out batters. His personal fastest pitch was 152 km/h, but on this day the stadium display measured it at 155 km/h. "I've been working hard with the goal of making it to the first team, so it was really fun," he said with a satisfied look on his face. Regarding his pitching speed, he said, "I'm pretty much out of fatigue now, so I was sure I'd surpass (my personal fastest) once the exhibition games started," and said that a 3 km/h improvement was within his expectations.