◆ Pacific League: Nippon-Ham vs. Rakuten Eagles (22nd, ES CON FIELD)

Kokona Murase, who won Japan's first-ever gold medal in snowboarding big air at the Milan-Cortina Olympics and a bronze medal in slopestyle, appeared to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

This day was "Monster Energy Day." Dressed in a black Monster Energy uniform and jeans, he took to mound and delivered a slightly arcing, two bounce pitch, receiving warm applause from the stands.

Murase, who was throwing the ceremonial first pitch for the third time and had just thrown it at Chunichi-The Giants game (Vantelin Dome) the previous day, smiled and said, "This is my third time, but I was more nervous than ever. I was worried about whether I could throw it cleanly, but in the end I was able to throw it and have fun, so I'm really glad I was able to come here and throw it."

Regarding her first time at Escon, she said, "It's incredibly beautiful, and I'm so happy that I was able to throw the first pitch in such a large venue. I had seen it on my phone, so I thought the building was even more impressive in person than it looked on my phone."