THE ATENEO Blue Eagles suffered their third consecutive loss after falling to the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers, 8-21, to go down 2-4 in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Baseball Tournament standings. The game was held earlier today at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman Baseball Field in Quezon City.
Ateneo’s starting pitcher Joshua De Juras started his outing strong, retiring the side in order to keep the game scoreless at the top of the first frame. DLSU’s starting pitcher, Joshua Pineda, then countered with his own scoreless inning to keep the game tied at 0-0 at the end of the first inning.
The scoring drought was a quick one, as Ateneo’s Javi Limpo would bring home Geoffrey Magsadia with a base hit to give their squad their first run of the game, 1-0, at the end of the second inning. The batting barrage of the Blue Eagles continued in the third inning as Angelo Bernardo, Lorenzo Montemayor, Luis Capati, and Matthew San Juan would each contribute runs to extend the lead to 4-0 through three innings of work.
Montemayor would continue his big outing with the squad’s second home run of the young season, this time of the inside-the-park variety, making it 5-0 through five innings. However, La Salle would finally answer the call in the sixth inning, scoring five runs which included a bases-loaded two Run-Batted-In (RBI) hit that would knot the game up at 5-5.
The Katipunan-based squad would immediately retake momentum and the lead back after a sacrifice fly by Limpo in the bottom of the sixth put the score at 6-5 heading into the seventh frame. La Salle would quickly tie the game up once again by exchanging an out for a run, 6-6. An RBI single by Joaquin Mendoza at the tail end of the seventh inning would bring home Montemayor to the plate to give Ateneo the lead back once again, heading into the eighth inning with a 7-6 advantage.
In an attempt to save the game, the Ateneo reliever Capati loaded the bases in the top of the ninth inning and subsequently walked home the tying run in the process to tie the game up at seven apiece, 7-7. They prevented more damage by allowing a double play to send the game to the bottom of the ninth. The game headed to extra innings after the Blue Eagle offense was not able to muster up a run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Unlike the Blue and White, the Green Archers were able to capitalize on their chances in a big way, scoring 13 runs to give them a 21-7 cushion heading into the bottom of the 10th. Ateneo scored only one run, which was not enough to match DLSU’s tenth-inning massacre, 21-8.
The Blue Eagles look to end their losing skid as they await their schedule for the second round of UAAP games.
