Keio University Baseball Club have claimed their fourth ever victory after a 19-year interval in the Meiji Jingu Baseball Tournament (university category), which brings together baseball leagues from all over Japan.
In the final match of the tournament on Wednesday, November 20, Keio competed against Kansai University representing the Kansai Big Six Baseball League. In the first inning, Yuya Gunji (4th year student at the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies) scored the opening points with a two-run homer, and he added to the scoring with an additional two-base hit in the top of the eighth followed by a three-base hit from Jun Setonishi (3rd year student at the Faculty of Law) as Keio pulled away. Starter Yuki Takahashi (4th year student at the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies) had a good showing as pitcher without a single runner seen until the seventh inning, and he closed the match with three hits and no bases on balls. Keio sealed their victory of 8-0 to claim the tournament.
After victory had been confirmed, Manager Hideaki Okubo, who will retire at the end of the current season, was tossed in the air as part of victory celebrations which saw the Jingu Stadium twilight lit up with smiles.