THE ATENEO Baseball Team failed to crack the Final Four of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 Baseball Tournament, falling to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Sox in a crucial match, 8-16. The final elimination game was held earlier today, April 5, at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium in the City of Manila.
With this loss, the Blue Eagles cap their season with a 3-7 win-loss record, placing them outside of Final Four contention.
To begin the contest, Ateneo’s power-hitting ability fell short as they were rendered runless in the opening minutes. The inning quickly switched to the bottom half, where the Katipunan-based unit found trouble in the form of defensive coverage.
Taking on a UST lineup that finished a heated affair an hour before, Ateneo’s Mickey Osorio took over the mound. The Blue Eagles faced problems with consecutive walks and a single, placing their adversaries on the board with three runs, 0-3. Another pair of errors sank the Blue and White into a deeper hole by the end of the first inning, 0-5.
The second inning saw both teams trade impressive defensive plays that kept the score frozen throughout the entire exchange. Following an uneventful frame, the Blue Eagles got more aggressive at the batter’s box by exerting more power. The strategy proved to be futile as they recorded three consecutive line-outs.
In the other half of the third, Ateneo fell victim to another home run at the hands of UST’s Timothy Caldo, further extending the gap, 0-6. Lucas Atendido soon stepped up to the mound as the relief pitcher to take Osorio’s place. Despite the change, misplays on defense around the diamond extended the deficit for the Blue Eagles, 0-8.
The Blue Eagles experienced another scoreless inning in the fourth, which they offset by only allowing a single run on the opposite end of the frame, 0-9.
At the top of the fifth, the Katipunan-based squad showed signs of life that began with Atendido connecting with a ground ball that sent him to second base. With two runners in scoring position, Alfy Tueres brought both batters home with another ground ball which forceda UST error, 2-9. Following the shift in momentum, Tueres and Aleck Ferrolino rounded the diamond off of UST’s back-to-back errors to record Ateneo’s third and fourth runs of the game, 4-9.
Topping off the scoring barrage, Osorio doubled into center field, which sent Zane Prades bolting to home base to cut the margin to four, 5-9. On defense, the Blue Eagles kept things in order as the Golden Sox only got off one run from an error in the fifth, 5-10.
The sixth inning turned into another scoreless period for Ateneo as they failed to trim the deficit any further. However, the Blue Eagles were blindsided at the bottom of the sixth after the Golden Sox answered with four runs to extend the margin further, 5-14.
The duo of Ferrolino and Waji Magsadia looked to spark another comeback from Ateneo, as their single and double respectively cut the deficit, 6-14. Despite back-to-back outs from UST pitcher Santillan, another single from Osorio tacked on an additional run for Ateneo before the end of the top half of the seventh, 7-14.
After walking UST’s Caldo to start the bottom half of the seventh frame, the Blue Eagles were unable to contain the Golden Sox offense, giving up a run 7-15. Moments later, Magsadia halted the UST spurt, capping off the seventh inning with a routine catch in the outfield.
Despite opening the eighth inning with consecutive outs, the Blue and White responded with a Magsadia single and a walk from Prades to load the bases. Displaying excellent at-bat patience, Bernardo drew another walk to drive a run in for Ateneo, 8-15. Still with the bases loaded, Osorio stepped to the plate in hopes of delivering more runs for Ateneo. However, the star outfielder was unable to deliver, as he struck out to end the inning, 8-15.
A thunderous home run from UST’s Liwag to open the bottom half of the eighth inning dimmed Ateneo’s chances, 8-16. In desperate need of a defensive stop, a well-timed double-play closed the inning with no further damage.
With one inning left to keep their Final Four hopes alive, Joaquin Mariano delivered with an opening single to bring momentum to Ateneo. Yet, this momentum was quickly derailed, as consecutive misses at the plate left Ateneo with one out left. The final blow came as catcher Tueres popped out to first base, with Ateneo faltering, 8-16.
As their season comes to an end, the Blue Eagles look to regroup in the offseason with hopes of returning to the Final Four in Season 89.
The Lines:
Ateneo (8): 0 0 0 0 5 0 2 1 0 – 8 7 8
UST (16): 5 0 3 1 1 4 1 1 x – 16 8 6
Current Standings (W-L):
- NU Bulldogs (7-2)
- DLSU Green Batters (7-2)
- AdU Soaring Falcons (4-5)
- UST Golden Sox (4-6)
- UP Fighting Maroons (3-6)
- ATENEO Blue Eagles (3-7)
