Collegiate lefty Yumeto Kanemaru struck out four batters at the start of a six-pitcher perfect-game relay as Japan beat Team Europe, a selection of European stars, 2-0 Thursday in the finale of their two-game exhibition series.
Kanemaru, one of four university players Samurai Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata named to his young squad for the games at Kyocera Dome Osaka, faced six batters and left with a lead thanks to an unearned second-inning run off German right-hander Markus Solbach.
"Playing alongside professionals must have made Kanemaru nervous, but he gave us a great start," Ibata said. "He pitched like a finished product."
Collegiate center fielder Misho Nishikawa, one of the stars of Wednesday's 5-0 Japan win, preserved the no-hit bid with a diving catch of a line drive to rob the Netherlands' Delano Selassa of a seventh-inning single.
Japan's Chusei Mannami doubled with one out in the eighth and scored on an error to make it 2-0.
Right-hander Atsuki Taneichi struck out the side in the ninth for Japan to wrap up the combined perfect game after a foul ball came dangerously close to being a leadoff double.
The next challenge for Ibata and the senior national team will be November's Premier12.
"I'm really excited to see what the established stars and the young prospects will do this season to make our autumn team selection difficult," Ibata said.
