◇ Saitama Seibu vs Chiba Lotte Round 6 (10th, Belluna Dome)

Saitama Seibu 's Natsuo Takizawa hit the first RBI hit of the season.

He started as the second batter and second baseman. In the bottom of the seventh inning, with a Walk lead, Sosuke Genda​ ​Yuto Koga walked, and he came up to bat for the fourth time with two outs and runners on first and second. With count at 1-0, he hit a high fastball thrown by the second pitcher, Hirokazu Sawamura, and hit a timely doble the right field line to score an additional run.

In his second at-bat, with runners on first and second and no outs, Takizawa expanded the opportunity with a perfect bunt hit just down third base line, leading to Nevin hitting bases loaded slam. After Sosuke Genda was sidelined due to injury, Takizawa continued to play in starting line-up lineup as short stop, and after Genda returned to the first team, he was deployed as third baseman and second baseman. In addition to his strong defense skills, he also makes a strong impact.

Text by Haruka Sonoda

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