CHIBA, Japan (Interstat) — Akito Takabe’s pinch-hit single in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Chiba Lotte Marines to a 3-2 win over the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on Friday night.

The Hawks’ Ryoya Kurihara hit a two-run homer in the seventh to erase a two-run deficit. Lotte’s Kyota Fujiwara then tied it with a two-run double in the ninth before Takabe’s winner scored Daito Yamamoto, who entered as a pinch-runner.

Naoyuki Uwasawa threw eight scoreless innings for SoftBank, allowing five hits and striking out nine. Keisuke Sawada earned the win in relief for the Marines before a crowd of 27,014 at Chiba Marine Stadium. The Hawks fell to 5-2, while Lotte improved to 4-3.