OSAKA, Japan (Interstat) — In a tense, low-scoring affair defined by missed opportunities and stellar relief pitching, the Orix Buffaloes edged the Chiba Lotte Marines 2-1 in 10 innings Thursday night at Osaka Dome, completing a three-game series sweep.

A crowd of 22,066 watched as the game’s decisive moment came in the bottom of the 10th. Yuma Mune led off the inning with a double off losing pitcher Shuta Takano. After a groundout advanced Mune to third, Ryoma Nishikawa delivered the walk-off single to shallow center, scoring Mune and handing Orix its seventh victory of the young season.

The game, which lasted 3 hours and 43 minutes, was a stark contrast to the previous two meetings in the series, which Orix won by a combined score of 12-2. It was a pitcher’s duel for much of the evening, with both starters delivering strong performances.

Lotte’s Yuji Nishino, named the team’s top star, bounced back emphatically from a rough outing on April 2 against Nippon-Ham, where he allowed six earned runs. This time, he held the Buffaloes to one run on six hits over five innings, striking out two. His counterpart, Orix’s Hiroya Miyagi, was even sharper, striking out seven while allowing one run on six hits across 5 2/3 innings.

The scoring began in the third inning. Orix strung together three consecutive two-out hits against Nishino, with Tomoya Noguchi and Yuma Mune setting the table. Ryoma Nishikawa’s infield single loaded the bases for Ryo Ohta, who singled to shallow right to plate Noguchi for a 1-0 lead.

Lotte, which managed only seven hits total, finally broke through in the sixth to tie the game, but did so in frustrating fashion. They loaded the bases with no outs against Miyagi on singles by Kyota Fujiwara and Daito Yamamoto followed by a walk to Neftali Soto. Miyagi then dug in, striking out Ryusei Terachi and Yudai Fujioka. With two outs, Toshiya Satoh worked a walk to force in the tying run, but Gregory Polanco flew out to center to end the threat, leaving three runners stranded.

From that point, the bullpens dominated. Lotte relievers Sam Long and Shota Suzuki each fired a perfect inning with two strikeouts. Rikuto Yokoyama added another scoreless frame. For Orix, the parade was even more impressive. After Soichiro Yamazaki recorded the final out of the sixth, Luis Perdomo, Ren Mukunoki and Andres Machado combined for three shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out three.

The stalemate continued into the 10th. Orix’s Kaede Yokoyama, who earned the win to move to 1-0, struck out two in a perfect top of the inning. In the bottom half, Takano entered for Lotte and was immediately tagged by Mune’s leadoff double. The decisive sequence followed: a productive groundout by Taishi Hirooka moved Mune to third, setting the stage for Ryoma Nishikawa’s game-winning hit.

The victory improved Orix’s record to 7-5, while Lotte fell to 4-8, having lost four straight games. The result defied the pregame projections from Interstat, which had forecast a higher-scoring Orix victory with a 61.7% win probability. The combined three runs fell well under the over/under line of 5.5.

The most critical juncture of the game was Lotte’s failure to capitalize with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth inning. In a 1-0 game, a hit could have broken it open. Instead, two strikeouts and a run-scoring walk represented a missed chance for a big inning, ultimately forcing the Marines to rely on a bullpen that eventually cracked in the 10th. That squandered opportunity, against a pitcher in Miyagi who was on the ropes, proved the difference in a one-run contest.

Orix now heads east for a three-game series against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles beginning Friday. The Marines, searching for answers after the sweep, travel to face the Saitama Seibu Lions, also starting a three-game set Friday. The two clubs are scheduled to meet again in Chiba on April 21.