later, in July 2007, Saito was chosen to play for Japan in the 36th Japan-USA University Baseball Championship Series. He started in Game 3 of the series and came away with the win, becoming the first freshman to play for Japan to earn a win in the history of the tournament. However, he could not find his location in Game 5 after coming on in relief, ultimately being charged with the loss. After the game, he commented to the American media, "There's a part of me that would like to play in the majors after experiencing professional baseball in Japan once." Saito took the mound for the fall season opener as well, becoming the first pitcher in 80 years to start and win the opener of both the spring and fall seasons as a freshman (then-Keio pitcher Saburo Miyatake accomplished the feat in 1927). He pitched the first complete game of his college career in the fourth game against Hosei University on September 25 and topped the effort with a 15-strikeout (a personal high) complete game shutout in the rubber game against Keio on October 30, becoming the winning pitcher in the title-clinching game for Waseda for the second consecutive season. He finished the season with a 4-0 record and an 0.78 ERA in 57⅔ innings, leading the league in wins and ERA and winning both the Best Nine and Most Valuable Player (as chosen by the fans) awards a second time. In the 38th Meiji Jingu Tournament that followed, he started all three games, leading Waseda to a match-up with Toyo University in the tournament finals on November 14. However, though he pitched six shutout frames and matched Toyo's ace (and current Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks pitcher) Shota Ohba inning for inning, the bullpen gave up the go-ahead run after Saito left the game and Waseda fell just short of the tournament championship. 2008 Going into the spring 2008 season, Saito vowed to win five games and lead to Waseda to a fourth consecutive league title. However, the spring season turned out to be a frustrating experience for Saito. In a May 19 start against Meiji University, Saito was hit in the right thigh by a sharp come-backer (a line drive right back to the pitcher), forcing him to leave the game. Waseda went on to lose the game (the loss being charged to Saito), diminishing their chances of winning