UAAP: Green, Lady Batters bounce back

The DLSU Green Batters and Lady Batters bounced back from their recent losses to end the week with victories for their respective squads in the UAAP Season 77 Baseball and Softball tournaments. The Lady Batters beat the ADMU Lady Eagles, 3-1, while the Green Batters rout the AdU Soaring Falcons, 7-6. The Taft-based squads both have a 2-1 win-loss record.

Resurgence

Last Saturday, the Lady Batters defeated the ADMU Lady Eagles in a close match, 3-1. Ateneo was first to put a score on the board but was overtaken by DLSU near the end of the game.

The Lady Eagles drew first blood in the second inning as Kat Altomonte completed a run, grabbing the lead of the game, 1-0. On the other hand, the Lady Batters remained scoreless in the first four innings.

Come fifth inning, the Lady Batters tied the score to 1-all after a joint effort from Pat Belarmino and Jen Lithel Gomez, bringing the latter home. It was then that the Taft-based squad began their comeback. Taking advantage of the errors of Ateneo, Marivic Muñoz and Mary Joy Son scored back-to-back runs in the sixth inning, giving the Lady Batters a 2-point lead.

The Lady Eagles couldn’t recover from the sudden turn of events and were unable to score in the following innings. The game was concluded by mercy rule with a score or 3-1, in favor of the Lady Batters.

Last minute runs

After being scoreless for six innings, the Green Batters gave a real shocker in their game against Adamson when they tied the scores in a single inning. This was followed up by an additional run courtesy of DLSU’s Carlos Muñoz to win the match last Sunday, 7-6.

Adamson immediately took the lead in the first inning, scoring from a run completed by Manuel Luis Navasero. In the second inning, the Falcons racked up three more runs as EJ Gesmundo, Russell Badrina, and Erwin Bosito were brought home through the efforts of Navasero.

Adamson showed their impressive defense to prevent the Green Batters from getting a single run home in the following innings as they scored two more by AdU’s Melvin Rosita and Nelson Salazar.

In the seventh inning, however, the Green Batters shocked Adamson as they suddenly scored six runs courtesy of Paolo Salud, Franco Hashimoto, Carlos Laurel, Kiko Gesmundo, Muñoz, and Dino Imperial. Good judgement and great ball placements aided them to pull off this comeback, tying the scoring to 6-6.

Still shaken by the sudden change of flow in the game, the Falcons were unable to score in the remaining innings. Meanwhile, DLSU’s Muñoz made the winning run to seal the game, 7-6.

With newfound vigor, both squads now look to claim their third wins. The Lady Batters are scheduled to play against the NU Lady Bulldogs at 11am this coming Wednesday, February 3, at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. On the following day, the Green Batters will face the UST Growling Tigers at the same venue.