Seiichi Uchikawa ended the Chiba Lotte Marines' hopes of an opening game upset on Wednesday, when he singled home the winning run in the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks' 3-2, 10th-inning win in the Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage.
With one out and the bases loaded in the 10th, Uchikawa hit the seventh pitch from Marines closer Tatsuya Uchi (0-1) to end it. With Softbank entering the six-game series with one win by virtue of being league champs, the Hawks are two wins away from earning a chance to win a second-straight Japan Series.
The Marines, looking to repeat their singular 2010 feat of reaching the Japan Series despite a third-place finish in the league, cashed in their first scoring chance on a two-out, two-run Ikuhiro Kiyota double in the third. Hawks curveball master Shota Takeda could not locate his pitches, constantly working behind in the count and it cost him in the third.