THE ATENEO Men’s Baseball Team suffered a nail-biter defeat against the University of Santo Tomas (UST), 4-8, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 85 Baseball Tournament. The game was held earlier today at the University of the Philippines Diliman Baseball Field in Quezon City.
Looking to break Ateneo’s losing streak, Enzo Montemayor started the top of the first with a single. Angelo Bernardo followed with his own hit but was easily caught by UST’s right field. Matthew San Juan was awarded a base after a walk and UST quickly called a timeout. However, Ateneo failed to capitalize as UST registered a double-play in the next play. With momentum on UST’s side, Jayvee Selda registered a two Run-Batted-In (RBI) triple and gave the Golden Sox their first score of the match, 0-2.
Down by two runs, Pablo Capati opened the top of the second with a home run and finally put Ateneo on the scoreboard, 1-2. The Golden Sox quickly stopped the Blue Eagles’ on their tracks and prevented any more runs in the inning. Ateneo responded in the bottom of the second as they limited UST to only three hitters.
UST tallied another run in the bottom of the third to keep Ateneo at bay, 1-3. The game went into a stalemate in the fourth and fifth innings as both teams failed to tally a run. Facing a deficit in the top of the sixth, Javi Limpo registered a single and was able to steal the second base that resulted in a UST timeout. After the timeout, Capati tallied another hit which allowed him and Limpo to both return to the home plate and to tie the score, 3-3. The momentum of the Blue Eagles carried in the bottom of the sixth as they limited UST to only four hitters.
With the game tied, The Golden Sox gave the Blue Eagles a taste of their own medicine as the Blue Eagles were limited to three batters in the top of the seventh. The Golden Sox countered with three runs in the bottom of the seventh after a miscommunication between Ateneo and the umpires, 3-6. Justin Rosales then batted an inside-the-park homer and registered three RBIs.
The Blue and White tried to mount a comeback in the last two innings with Limpo tallying a run in the top of the eight after stealing the home plate, 4-6. However, the Golden Sox scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth, 4-8 and held the Blue Eagles scoreless in the top of the ninth.
After the defeat, Ateneo, UST, and National University now share the fourth spot, all standing with a 2-5 win-loss record. Ateneo will look to break its losing streak as they face top seed University of the Philippines on April 4, 6:30 PM, at the same venue.
