◆Exhibition game: Nippon-Ham 3-4 Seibu Lions (Escon)

A hit by Shun Akiyama outfielder (22) = Chukyo University, the third-ranked rookie in the draft from Noboribetsu, Hokkaido, Japan, Seibu Lions turned the tables.

With his family in attendance, he stepped up to bat in the ninth inning with two outs and the bases bases loaded, trailing by one run. On the first pitch, he hit Tamai's fork, snapping his bat and sending it flying, causing second baseman to make an error, allowing two runners to score.

A right-handed, left-handed outfielder from Noboribetsu, Hokkaido, ES CON FIELD is a memorable stadium where he played games when he was in college, and he recalled with a smile, "Playing here really gets me excited, and it's a different atmosphere from other stadiums, so it was a lot of fun."

However, he has been breaking a lot of bats recently, and with a wry smile, he said, "I think I've broken about four or five... I just ran out of spares." Still, he said, "My condition is improving day by day. I don't think I'll have many chances from now on, but I want to prepare well so that I can hit a home run when I'm in a good form like today." He is determined to make it into the opening day first team.

Akiyama joined Seibu Lions in 2013 as the third overall pick in the draft, having graduated from Chukyo University. This spring, he completed the first-team training camp in Nango, Miyazaki, and played in all four exhibition games.