UAAP: Green Batters drop finals opener against ADMU

The DLSU Green Batters dropped Game 1 of the UAAP Season 77 Baseball finals to the ADMU Blue Eagles, 7-3, last March 5 at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium. ADMU now leads 1-0 in the best-of-three series.

The Blue Eagles fired the opening shot as Adriane Bernardo scored on a fielder’s choice in the first inning, putting Ateneo at an early advantage. The Green Batters went scoreless in the next half-inning.

La Salle then got on the board in the second when Paolo Salud brought Joaquin Bilbao home with a hit to center field. Team captain Carlos Laurel capped the inning with a two-run single to give DLSU a 3-1 lead.

With the bases loaded and two outs at the top of the fourth, Blue Eagle Iñigo Untalan got hit by a pitch to force in a run, keeping the bases loaded. The three-hole hitter, Matt Laurel, hit a two-run single to put the Blue Eagles up, 4-3. ADMU extended the lead when the bases were again loaded at the top of the sixth, with Blue Eagle Dio Remollo hitting a two-run double to make it 6-3.

Another run was scored by Ateneo at the top of the eighth inning, with Bernardo scoring from third on a wild pitch, putting them up 7-3. The score held up until the end of the game. Ateneo held La Salle scoreless for the last seven innings.

“We can’t enter a championship game expecting it to be easy. In terms of how we played, we did okay, but there are minor adjustments that we need to make,” said Laurel after the match. He also cited better plate discipline and focus as central to their team’s preparation for the next game.

Starting first baseman Dino Imperial injured his arm while trying to get back to first base on a failed pickoff attempt during the fifth inning. “Malaki yung epekto pero meron pa naman akong ibang [players], magkakaroon lang ng konting adjustments sa depensa,” DLSU coach Joseph Orillana shared. Imperial’s status for Game Two, however, is unclear.

Looking to make a comeback from the series opening loss, the Green Batters will go against Ateneo next Thursday, March 12, at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Diamond.