FUKUOKA, Japan (Interstat) — The Chiba Lotte Marines erupted for seven runs in the second inning Saturday and rode a dominant pitching performance from Sam Long to an 8-1 victory over the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks before 40,122 at Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome.

The win split the first two games of the three-game series after SoftBank edged Lotte 3-2 on Friday. Lotte improved to 37-34-3, while SoftBank fell to 45-30-2.

Long, who entered with a 0-2 record, tossed seven innings of six-hit ball, striking out six and allowing no earned runs. He retired 10 consecutive batters at one point and faced only one serious jam in the fourth when Yuki Yanagita doubled with no outs, but Long struck out Ryuta Hirose and induced a flyout and a groundout to escape.

The left-hander’s efficiency allowed the Marines to build an insurmountable lead after a six-run top of the second inning that turned a 1-0 advantage into an 8-0 cushion.

Lotte struck first in the opening frame when Kyota Fujiwara launched a solo home run to right field off SoftBank starter Hokuto Ohyama. The blast was the only hit of the inning for the Marines.

The second inning began quietly as Neftali Soto struck out and Ryusei Terachi walked, but Hisanori Yasuda grounded into a fielder’s choice that left Terachi on first with two outs. Ryusei Ogawa then singled to shallow center, and Atsuki Tomosugi reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases.

Ohyama, making his first appearance of the season, lost his command. He walked Fujiwara to force in a run, then walked Misho Nishikawa to force in another. Koki Yamaguchi followed with a single to shallow left that scored two more, making it 5-0. Toshiya Satoh doubled to left to drive in Yamaguchi, and Soto singled to shallow left to bring home Satoh and Tomosugi, capping the seven-run outburst.

Ohyama was charged with eight runs on five hits and four walks in two innings. He struck out one.

SoftBank’s bullpen quieted the Lotte offense the rest of the way. Taiga Kamichatani threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out three. Toshiya Nakamura worked two hitless frames with two strikeouts, and Fuga Ohtake struck out two in a scoreless inning. But the Hawks’ offense could not solve Long.

SoftBank put runners on base in five of the first seven innings but went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. The Hawks stranded 11 runners overall. In the first inning, Tomoya Masaki and Ukyo Shuto opened with consecutive singles, but Kensuke Kondoh and Ryoya Kurihara flied out before Taisei Makihara struck out looking.

Long scattered singles in the second, third and fifth innings but consistently worked out of trouble. Ogawa finished 2 for 4 for Lotte, and Soto drove in two runs despite striking out twice.

SoftBank finally got on the board in the ninth inning against Lotte reliever Shuta Takano. Masaki led off with a solo home run to left, his first of the season. Takano struck out two but allowed the lone run. Koshiro Sakamoto recorded the final two outs of the game, striking out Tatsuru Yanagimachi to end it.

The game lasted 2 hours, 54 minutes.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of SoftBank 6, Lotte 5. SoftBank was given a 69.00 percent probability to win by the ELO system and was installed as a pre-game favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total of eight runs went under the over-under line of 7.5.