THE ATENEO Lady Eagles struggled once again with hitting and fielding as they suffered their 5th consecutive loss — a 7-0 rout via mercy rule in the 5th inning to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Lady Tigresses. The Blue and White side mustered just 2 hits against ace pitcher Ann Antolihao resulting in a decisive victory by last season’s runner-up.

UST first placed points on the board in the bottom of the second, where they scored their first three runs against Lady Eagles’ rookie Kevyn Lacson. UST’s right fielder Belaño made it to second base on an overthrow at 1B, and a similar error on shortstop Gustilo’s groundball let her teammate score a run. Gustilo eventually made it home to score as well due to a sacfly by Perales. Leadoff hitter Dela Torre, who had walked prior to Perales’ hit, was the 3rd run to score off of an RBI double by Palma.

At this point in the match, Ateneo had already expended what would be it’s only two hits of the game: a double by Nicki Borromeo in the first inning, and a line drive for a single by Gabby Macatulad in the top of the second.

While Lacson would pitch and impressive bottom of the 3rd to save more runs from coming in, UST would notch back-to-back 2-run innings in the fourth and fifth which would eventually enforce the mercy rule. The Lady Tigresses’ Lealyn Guevarra capitalized on a bases-loaded situation in the 4th inning, as her single to left field brought home a run. Immediately after her, a groundball by Hernandez towards short was mishandled to give UST a 5-0 lead heading into the 5th.

The Lady Tigresses finished it off in the 5th when Palma found herself in a bases loaded situation. The UST catcher hit a long drive to the corner of left field to bring home the 2 runs that extended the lead to 7 and ended the match.

It was a difficult loss for the Lady Eagles, who have not found much success in the 2nd round of play with just one match left. However, the Katipunan-based squad is still hungry to grab a second win against a likewise struggling University of the Philippines Lady Maroons team.

“We’re hungry for the win to end the season right. Since we know we can beat them, that will boost our morale so we’ll be more confident when we play,” said Sophomore Gabby Macatulad of the team’s upcoming — and final — game.

That final game will be on Saturday, March 4 at 7:30AM in the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium. The softball match will represent the final time that 5th year outfielder Clarisse Dacanay, and Captains Shereen Salvatierra and Ira Nevalga will don the Blue and White.

The Lady Eagles succumb to UST, 7-0, via mercy rule.

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