OPENING THEIR campaign on a high note, the Blue Eagles led a masterclass on the diamond, taking down the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons at 13-3 in the opening day of the University Athletic Association of the Phillipines (UAAP) Season 80 Baseball tournament on Sunday, February 4 at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium in Manila.
Team captain Marquis Alindogan led the charge from the plate, going 5/5 in a prolific offensive display that saw the team take their first win by invoking mercy rule in seven innings. Fifth-year player Enzo Orbeta made a thunderous impact on the game to mark his return to the league after being sidelined by injury last season, while several rookies also made their first appearances to open their Blue and White careers.
The Blue Eagles lost no time in asserting their dominance in the game, punishing the UP outfield with a barrage of hits at the top of the first. Javi Macasaet drew first blood, launching a screamer into right-field for a 1-RBI triple to put Ateneo on the board for the first run of the game.
Designated hitter Ryan Hilario followed suit with a single to send Macasaet home, with subsequent base hits by Marquis Alindogan and Dino Altomonte loading the bases to set up a scoring opportunity. Dan Laurel then made the most out of the situation, slamming a drive past first and second base territory to score two runners, which put Ateneo up 4-0 early in the game.
UP came close to closing the gap at the top of the second, as Mark Tuballas and Roque Banzon managed to get themselves on second and third base to set up a scoring opportunity for the Fighting Maroons. Starting pitcher Paulo Macasaet, however, stayed cool and composed, striking out three straight UP batters to end the threat and keep Ateneo flawless.
The bottom of the second brought further blunders from the UP defense, pushing the game further in the Blue Eagles’ favor. With both Alindogan and Hilario on first and second base, Altomonte notched a solid grounder past shortstop, but poor fielding and throwing errors from the infield led to two more runs to make it a 6-0 game.
A triple from Laurel then tallied another run and prompted a pitcher change from UP, as Tyron Malana sat out for Allen Mercado. Ateneo, however, increased their firepower to pull the game further away. A wild pitch gave Laurel the green light to bring the score to 8-0, with Orbeta then following up with a two-run home-run to widen the gap to 10-0 and announce his return to the league.
The Blue Eagles tallied another run in at the bottom of the third to bring the score to 11-0, which forced UP to polish their guns on attack. As rookie Luis Estacio came in to relieve Paulo Macasaet, the Fighting Maroons found new life and scored their only set of runs all game.
A huge double from Roque Banzon landed in left-center was UP’s first sign of retaliation, which sent home Phonso Balagtas to put the Fighting Maroons on the board. JC Yang then sent a drive into deep right-field for a 2-RBI double to make it an 11-3 game, but the UP side failed to convert for the rest of their turns at the plate.
Aiming to finish the game quickly, the Blue Eagles sent in Nacho Lozano to relieve Estacio at the top of the sixth, and the junior pitcher held down the fort to prevent any more runs from coming in. Another run at the top of the fifth brought the Blue Eagles one run closer to ending the game via mercy rule, with a hard grounder and the fifth hit from Marquis Alindogan finally sealing the deal to end the ball game at 13-3 by the bottom of the seventh.
The Blue Eagles are off to a 1-0 start in a new campaign and will play the National University (NU) Bulldogs on Wednesday, February 7.
