◆ Pacific League Softbank vs. Nippon-Ham (27th, Mizuho PayPay)
Softbank Hawks Hawks infielder Hotaka Yamakawa hit his first home run of the season, tying the game.
In the top of the 5th inning with a runner at first, I caught the third splitter pitch from count 1-1 and regrettably it was an oversized foul ball just short of the left field pole. Immediately after, he swung hard at the fourth straight ball and the ball landed in the left-field bleachers. Yamakawa threw his bat high in the air and yelled a war cry to the The Hawks bench. He slowly circled the diamond to the cheers of the crowd.
![[Match Details] Softbank Hawks vs. Nippon-Ham](https://hochi.news/assets/v2/img/hochi_news_sns.png)
![[Softbank Hawks] Kensuke Kondo, the "No-Hit Samurai," hits a home run in the opening game: "I was able to do the kind of batting I wanted to do" off his WBC teammate, Nippon-Ham 's Hiromi Ito](https://hochi.news/images/2026/03/27/20260327-OHT1I51594-L.jpg)
![[Softbank Hawks] Kenta Imamiya starting line-up in his first at-bat of the season, getting his first hit of the season. His 14th consecutive opening day hit at shortstop is a new professional baseball record.](https://hochi.news/images/2026/03/27/20260327-OHT1I51576-L.jpg)
![[Softbank Hawks] Ryoya Kurihara makes up for his mistake with his bat: Despite an error in the first inning, he hits a two-run homer to retaliate.](https://hochi.news/images/2026/03/27/20260327-OHT1I51564-L.jpg)
