THE ATENEO Softball Team opened University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 85 with a loss to the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons, 2-9, earlier today at the UP Diliman Softball Field.

After a three-year hiatus for UAAP softball, the match began with intense defense from both teams. Ateneo kept it close until the second inning, limiting UP to two runs halfway through the inning. However, a series of missed catches from the Blue and White side resulted in UP scoring three straight runs, 0-3.

Picking up momentum from the second inning, Ateneo’s Asteria Franco managed to score in the top of the third inning while giving only one base in the bottom inning, 1-3. The match landed in a stalemate in the fourth inning as both teams failed to convert on their hits. 

Heading into the fifth inning, Julia Carsi-Cruz opened the inning with a three-base hit to give the Blue Eagles a chance to trim the 1-3 deficit. However, three consecutive strikeouts by the Fighting Maroons prevented Ateneo from closing the gap. With the game still close in the bottom of the fifth, UP unleashed multiple runs and capitalized on Ateneo’s catching errors to break the game wide open, 1-7.

Ateneo scored a run at the top of the sixth inning with a chance to stay in the game, but time eventually ran out, giving UP its first victory of the season, 2-9.

The game against the Fighting Maroons marked the UAAP debut of all the Blue Eagles, explaining the first-game jitters that affected the team’s performance. “Sobrang excited at kinakabahan kasi madaming nanonood ([We were] super excited and nervous because a lot of people [were] watching),” freshman pitcher Katrina Ditchon said.

Ateneo will look to get into the win column as they face the nine-time defending champions Adamson University Soaring Falcons at 2 PM on February 21 at the same venue.