The DLSU Green Batters suffered a heavy and familiar defeat against the NU Bulldogs, 16-7, as their hopes for title redemption took a dent in Game One of the UAAP Season 87 Baseball Tournament Finals earlier today, May 2, at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
Bulldog bite
Starting off the top of the first inning, the Green Batters were sharply met with the Bulldogs’ compact defensive structure, which quickly found three outs. Now on the defensive, La Salle deployed Peter Nonaillada as their pitcher to try and match NU’s defense. Despite a hit by Kent Altarejos, DLSU was able to enact three defensive outs to quickly conclude the inning. To open the second inning, the Bulldogs’ pitcher Amiel De Guzman made life difficult for the Lasallian sluggers. Nevertheless, strong hits from Renato Samuel and Pio Villamiel got the former into a good position at third base. This was followed by a strong grounder to left field by Barry Oñas, beating Gio Gorpido who saw the ball slip through his grasp and allowing Samuel to reach home plate to open the scoring of the game and for La Salle, 1-0. Now with momentum, DLSU threatened to add to their advantage, eventually loading all three bases. However, national team player De Guzman stepped up for the Jhocson-based squad, causing a flyout to Ezekiel Bautista and a strikeout to Round One grand slammer Joseph Alcontin to close the top of the second inning. The bottom of the second saw NU remaining blank as La Salle continued to keep their defensive shape.
To begin the third inning, the defending champions fortified their defense, striking out Liam De Vera and executing two fly outs to Samuel and Villamiel. Now desperate to get on the scoreboard, the Bulldogs stepped up a gear on their offensive play. Altarejos was able to get to second base after an errant defensive throw by shortstop Agon De Vera. This was quickly followed by a Kenneth Maulit grounder to center field, which also beat A. De Vera, opening up space for Altarejos to reach third base. NU finally got on the scoreboard as Herald Tenorio hit a down-the-line grounder to left field to reach second base, allowing Altarejos to tie the game, 1-all. Aiming to take the lead, the Bulldogs capitalized on Nonaillada’s pitching, quickly loading all bases. In timely fashion for NU, Nigel Paule struck a monstrous grand slam to stun the Green Batters—the scoreline rapidly reading 5-1 in favor of the Bulldogs.
Now finding themselves far behind, DLSU responded well as Marco Flores, Oñas, and Yuan Sumague slowly loaded up the bases. Bautista managed a strong hit far into left field, opening up NU’s defense to allow Flores, Oñas, and Sumague to get to home plate and narrowly catch up, 5-4. Alcontin followed up with a high fly ball, which was caught yet it allowed Bautista to tally another run to reach a deadlock, 5-all. Seeing their lead suddenly erased, the Bulldogs quickly found their second and third outs of the inning on the De Vera brothers. Seeking to replicate their offensive output in the previous inning, NU attempted to capitalize on a DLSU pitching change, which saw Sumague step up onto the mound. However, La Salle was able to contain the Bulldogs, ending the fourth inning tied.
With the match in the balance, the Lasallians struggled to take back the lead. Samuel, Miguel Agoncillo, and Flores were caught in short succession to put NU back on the offensive. And despite two successful flyouts by each De Vera brother, the floodgates opened for the Bulldogs. A shallow fly ball by Kiel Olazo opened up the DLSU defense for Jherick Timban to get to third base using his rapid acceleration. The pacey Bulldog stole a run to home base in the next play after being unguarded by La Salle, 6-5. Olazo quickly followed suit in the following play after a grounder through the middle by Altarejos, 7-5. Even though the Green Batters were only one out away from closing the inning, Sumague’s pitching remained faulty, allowing two walks by NU to load all the bases. The Lasallians were heavily punished soon after for their loose defense as Kevin Maulit hit a deep right field, which saw the Bulldogs tally three vital runs, completing a five-run inning for the second time in the matchup, 10-5.
Losing control
Suffering another five-run inning, the Green Batters remain eager to regroup and strike back in the top of the sixth. Final Four hero Sumague was quick to steal the bases, finding himself in third, while Bautista’s hit allowed him to get to first. With runners ready at first and third, Alcontin delivered a powerful hit, opening up Sumague and Bautista to run home and catch up, 10-7. At the bottom of the sixth, La Salle made sure to follow up on their top inning efforts, showcasing their sharpness in defense to catch out all the Bulldogs’ hits and runs.
In the seventh inning, DLSU was unable to capitalize on its momentum. The green shirts found trouble, raising worries with the NU defense, as Agoncillo and Flores were caught before reaching first base. In the bottom of the seventh, Olazo ran home from third as Ken. Maulit’s hit was too strong for the Lasallians. With another run allowed, L. De Vera stepped in as pitcher to close the game. However, Tenorio still found a way to hit his pitches, allowing Altarejos to run home to extend their lead to five again, 12-7. With their deficit inflating again, La Salle ended the seventh with a strikeout and a flyout.
At the top of the eighth, the first three hitters of La Salle were all caught by the NU defense. Later on, the Green Batters suffered another setback in the bottom of the eighth with four more runs allowed. Bryan Lagumbay, Timban, and Olazo loaded the bases early to put Bulldog pressure on La Salle. An error by La Salle then allowed Lagumbay to run home, 13-7. Ken. Maulit and Tenorio then hit to allow Timban and Olazo to tally runs, extending their lead to eight, 15-7. With a suffocating deficit late in the game, the Green Batters could not crack Gorpido’s hit, which allowed Tenorio to run home, 16-7. Game One was on the line, yet La Salle could not break through NU’s mighty defense as quick passing and two flyouts ended the game in favor of the defending champions, 16-7.
After the game, DLSU Head Coach Joseph Orillana gave his analysis on how the second five-run inning came about, which his team can work on going into the next game, “Ang gameplan talaga namin is ma-control ‘yung hitters nila. Nagawa naman namin until fifth inning. Ang nangyari lang kasi ‘yung pitcher na check na rin. At the same time, na mispitch na rin nila, nagkaroon ng mga tao sa base by walk and hit-by-pitch, then nasundan ng mga palo. Timely hits talaga. ‘Yun ang sana maiwasan na huwag magkatao sa base para kung maka-hit man, wala kaming damage.”
(Our gameplan was really to control their hitters. We were doing it until the fifth inning. What happened was our pitcher was checked. At the same time, there were mispitches, there were people now in the bases by walk and hit-by-pitch, then there were hits that followed. It’s really timely hits. We could avoid having people on base so that when there are hits, there is no damage.)
Following this heavy loss, the Green Batters are down by a game in the Finals and must remain perfect for the remainder of the series to keep their championship hopes alive. The Green-and-White will be looking to bounce back on Tuesday, May 6, at 8 am at the same venue for a do-or-die Game Two.
