UAAP: Green, Lady Batters suffer first loss of the season

After a favorable debut last week, the DLSU Green Batters and Lady Batters suffered their first losses of the season against the UAAP’s powerhouse teams. The DLSU Green Batters fell short against The NU Bulldogs last Thursday with a score of 8-7 while the Lady Batters, on the distaff, faltered against the UP Lady Maroons this past Wednesday, 5-2.

Near comeback

The Green Batters faced the Bulldogs in an exciting match that saw NU steal an 8-7 win in the final moments of the game. The Green Batters overcame a five-point deficit to lead by a single run after their final inning. However, NU spoiled the comeback, scoring the two runs they needed to take home the victory.

The Green Batters had a slow start as they remained scoreless during the early stages of the match. Meanwhile, NU looked to capitalize on La Salle’s mistakes by scoring four runs during the first inning.

NU once again displayed their impressive patience and judgement as they scored two more runs courtesy of Diarao and Calivoso during the fourth inning. La Salle’s adjustments during the sixth inning were able to make an opening for Carlos Laurel and Joaquin Bilbao to score two runs for the Taft based squad, this gave them the momentum they needed in order to keep up with the tenacity of the Bulldogs.

Trailing by four points, the Green Batters shocked the NU squad when they scored three straight runs to cut the lead down to one. Paolo Salud provided much firepower for the team together with veteran pitcher Carlos Muñoz.

With momentum on their side, Francis Gesmundo together with Laurel looked to seal the deal by taking the lead by hitting home twice, giving La Salle the one-point advantage. Come bottom of the ninth, the NU Bulldogs looked for loopholes in the defense of the Green Batters and managed to pull-off what was an amazing play to end the match, scoring two more points and ultimately winning this head-to-head battle.

Costly errors

Meanwhile, the Lady Batters suffered their first loss of the season under the hands of the UP Lady Maroons last Wednesday, January 28. DLSU’s errors and UP’s great placement proved to be the difference as the game ended with the Maroons on top, 5-2.

In the first inning, both teams were unable to grab any points. Midway through the second inning, however, the momentum had shifted to UP as the Lady Maroons’ Mendoza and Gonzales were brought home after a slight mishap in securing the ball. Another run was scored by UP’s Paz in the third inning, while the Lady Batters have yet to put a score on the board, 3-0.
The Lady Batters finally registered a point after Jamaica Arribas completed the run in the fourth inning. However, The Fighting Maroons would respond and continue to make runs, with two of them in the fourth courtesy of Cruz and Gonzales which gave a 5-1 advantage to UP coming in to the fifth inning.

The fifth inning went by quickly as both teams’ defenses got stronger, not letting the offensive team garner points. In the sixth inning, the Lady Batters managed to pierce through the defense of UP and score another run made by Vanessa Borbon. However, their comeback was short-lived as UP didn’t let them get any more runs home.

“At least malaki na yung pinagbago ng team game nila, especially sa batting. Nag iiba na yung kanilang team attitude kaya gumagaling na sila,” said head coach Alex Estipular on the Lady Batters’ three-point loss.

Both squads will seek redemption in their upcoming games as the Lady Batters face the ADMU Lady Eagles at 12 noon on Saturday, January 31, while the Green Batters are to compete against AdU on Sunday, February 1.