THE ATENEO Blue Batters took the first game of the 76th University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Baseball Finals, outlasting the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers, 10-8, in 10 innings of play. After losing to DLSU in both rounds of the eliminations, the Blue Batters finally defeated their archrivals on February 14 at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Field.
In their past matches this season, the Ateneo always found itself trailing behind DLSU early on as a result of defensive errors. Heading into the fourth inning, the Blue Batters found themselves in a similar situation as three quick runs by DLSU in the bottom of the second made the score 3-1 in favor of the Green Archers.
With already two outs into the inning, the Ateneo came close to wasting another scoring opportunity until veterans Adriane Bernardo and Dio Remollo fired back-to-back hits, a 1 RBI double and 2 RBI single respectively, which allowed the Blue Batters to finally regain the lead 4-3. Furthermore, consecutive errors during the same inning from DLSU’s pitcher resulted into two more runs, extending the Ateneo’s lead to 6-3.
Though the Ateneo’s offensive onslaught seemed to be finished in the top of the fourth, another run courtesy of a single from Miggy Santos was scored, capping off the Blue Batter’s dramatic two-out six-point rally, which made the score 7-3 to enter the fifth inning of play.
After a fielder’s choice by DLSU that sent Matt Laurel home for the Ateneo to make the score 8-3 at the top of the sixth, DLSU eventually tightened up its defense and launched a comeback that kept the Ateneo gallery on the edge of its seats. Behind the three runs of S. Uichico, the Green Archers were able to tie the ball game come the end of the eighth inning. Two runs in the bottom of the seventh and another three in the eighth, all resulting from big-time hits, ignited not only the dampened spirits of the DLSU dugout but also that of the DLSU crowd as the game was set to enter the final inning of regular play.
With the scores tied 8-8 and the game on the line, Bernardo took over pitching duties from an exhausted Andy Tan, who pitched for the Ateneo for a total of eight innings. The renewed energy of the Ateneo on the mound proved to be key as it kept DLSU scoreless for the remainder of the game.
It would however be the two runs scored in the top of the extra inning courtesy of Bernardo and Team Captain Kevin Ramos that sealed the deal for the Ateneo, as DLSU failed to respond to the final surge of the Blue Batters, failing to send runners on base via hits in the last inning.
Tan, the Ateneo’s starting pitcher, came up big for the Blue Batters, pitching for eight innings and striking out six and walking only four. Dio Remollo led the way for the the Ateneo offense as he recorded a total of 2 RBIs.
Overall, it was the Ateneo’s strong start and solid defensive effort that allowed them to stay instep and eventually ahead of their archrivals.
The Blue Batters are now only one win away from successfully defending their UAAP championship crown. The two teams will meet again on Tuesday, February 19, 12 PM at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Field.
