SAPPORO, Japan (Interstat) — A five-run sixth inning, capped by Kensuke Kondoh’s three-run homer, propelled the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to a 6-3 victory over the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters on Saturday at Sapporo Dome.

The win improved the Hawks’ record across all competitions to 10-3, while the Fighters fell to 6-7. The game, played before an evening crowd of 31,575, lasted 3 hours, 34 minutes.

The decisive sixth inning transformed a tight pitchers’ duel into a comfortable Hawks lead. The frame began with Fighters starter Hiromi Itoh, who was saddled with the loss to fall to 1-1, walking Hotaka Yamakawa and hitting Kenta Imamiya. Ukyo Shuto followed with a single to load the bases with no outs.

Itoh struck out Takashi Umino, but Taisei Makihara delivered a clutch single to shallow right, scoring Yamakawa to break a 1-1 tie. Tatsuru Yanagimachi then lifted a sacrifice fly to center, bringing home Imamiya. With two outs and runners on the corners, Kondoh stepped in and launched a three-run shot to right field off reliever Koji Fukutani, extending the Hawks’ lead to 6-1.

That outburst provided ample support for SoftBank starter Naoyuki Uwasawa, who earned the win to improve to 1-0. Uwasawa delivered a strong performance, pitching seven innings and allowing two earned runs on seven hits while striking out six. He effectively worked out of trouble, most notably in the seventh inning when the Fighters loaded the bases with one out. Uwasawa struck out Kota Yazawa and, after allowing an RBI infield single to Kotaro Kiyomiya, ended the threat by getting Franmil Reyes to strike out looking, preserving a 6-2 lead.

The Fighters struck first in the bottom of the opening inning when Yazawa connected for a solo home run to right-center off Uwasawa. The Hawks answered in the fourth when Yuki Yanagita led off the inning with a solo homer to left, tying the game.

Following Uwasawa’s departure, the Hawks’ bullpen sealed the win. Yuki Matsumoto pitched a perfect eighth inning. In the ninth, the Fighters mounted a final rally against reliever Shuto, scoring a run on Kiyomiya’s two-out RBI single. With the tying run on deck, however, Reyes grounded out to shortstop to end the game.

The Fighters’ bullpen, after the sixth-inning stumble, provided solid relief. Takahide Ikeda, Sachiya Yamasaki and Hiroya Shimamoto combined for 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

Offensively, both teams collected nine hits. For the Hawks, Makihara went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Kondoh’s three-run blast was his only hit in four at-bats. For the Fighters, Kiyomiya drove in two runs, going 2-for-5.

The victory continued SoftBank’s early-season success and marked their fourth consecutive win over Nippon-Ham this season, having swept a three-game series in Fukuoka in late March. The result defied the pregame projection from Interstat’s game simulator, which had forecast a 6-5 Fighters victory. While the Hawks were given a 52.6% probability to win by the ELO system, Nippon-Ham had been installed as a 1.5-run favorite on the spread. The combined nine runs went over the posted total of 7.0.

The most critical sequence of the game unfolded in the top of the sixth inning. With the score tied and the bases loaded with one out, the Hawks’ offense, which had struggled to capitalize earlier, broke through. Makihara’s go-ahead single and Yanagimachi’s sacrifice fly provided a crucial two-run cushion. Kondoh’s subsequent three-run homer then shattered the contest open, turning a narrow lead into a commanding five-run advantage from which the Fighters could not recover, despite their late efforts.

The Hawks and Fighters conclude their two-game series on Sunday in Sapporo.