After holding their opponents scoreless through the first seven innings, the Ateneo Blue Eagles managed to escape a last-inning scare with a 5-3 victory over the last-seeded National University (NU) Bulldogs in the second round of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 80 Baseball tournament on Sunday, February 25, at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium in Manila.
Veteran Paulo Macasaet dominated from the mound with a total of nine strikeouts and permitted zero runs through seven innings. Rookie relief pitcher Nico Lozano relieved him of duty during the tail-end of the game, garnering precious crunch-time experience. The first-year player faced a guns-blazing, desperation rally from NU, but ultimately led a takedown of the Bulldogs for the win in his second appearance this season.
Meanwhile, from the plate, a consistent ten total hits from the Blue and White seemed to have snapped their offensive dry spell during the previous game.
In place of injured leadoff Radito Banzon, captain Marquis Alindogan along with Marco Mallari opened the game for Ateneo with a bang. Making things look easy, a double from Alindogan followed by a hard grounder from Mallari put Ateneo ahead 1-0 for an early lead.
The second inning saw similar action. A walk from Laurel and a huge grounder from Gio Salvatierra set the stage for the succeeding hitter. Enzo Orbeta then sent a flyball to center field, which gave Laurel the green light home and granted Ateneo a two-run lead.
The game eventually slowed its pace, with the diamond silenced by poised defense from either side, which held the scoreboard untouched for three innings. Heavy hitters Ryan Hilario and Dino Altomonte, however, broke the stalemate and turned the tide heavily in Ateneo’s favor in the sixth.
After knocking one deep down the line to left field and landing on first, Hilario made a daring bid to beat the throw to second. With the prodding of Coach Randy Dizer, Altomonte built on the momentum and fired his first home run of the season over the left field wall, doubling Ateneo’s lead. Another rocket to left-center from Mallari gave Ateneo another run heading into the last two innings.
Lozano then took the mound for Ateneo, which prompted NU to turn up the jets and nab their first run while loading the bases with two outs in the eighth. Late errors proved yet again to be a chink in the armor, tormenting the Blue Eagles with unnecessary pressure in the clutch.
Two infield fumbles as well as a passed ball handed NU one run, which set up a sacrifice fly to produce another run for the Bulldogs with one out. Nonetheless, a timely strikeout from Lozano and an easy reception at third put the game away for good.
With a 5-2 record, Ateneo sits ready to pounce as the second seed, behind De La Salle University (DLSU). The Blue Eagles’ next battle pits them against Adamson University (AdU) on Wednesday, February 28, at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium in Manila.
