The defending champions make it two in a row
| TEAMS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| DLSU (2–0) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 3 | ||||
| UST (0-2) | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 3 |
When the De La Salle University Green Batters rallied back, they did not look back, leaving the University of Santo Tomas Golden Sox in the dust in an 11-4 win, Wednesday morning at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium in Manila.
The win kept La Salle’s slate unscathed at 2-0 while UST fell to 0-2.
However, the Green Batters started slow as they had to overcome deficits of 0-2 and 2-4 during the first half of the game with the first two runs of UST coming from a 2-RBI double from Kirk Daquis during the first inning.
“Sabi ko nga sa kanila, one game at a time. Hindi naman puwedeng laging nasa atin yung momentum,” La Salle head coach Joseph Orillana lamented. “May mga time din na mauunahan tayo. Ang importante ay kung paano sila mag-adjust sa ganung pangyayari.”
Sophomore DH Iggy Escano led La Salle’s comeback, slamming a solo home run during the fourth inning. This was then followed by a three-run fifth inning that saw the Green Batters gain the lead for good.
“Malaki yung role niya kasi yung pitchers ko, hindi na pumapalo. Siya na yung tagapalo nila. Dun namin magagamit yung lakas niya,” Orillana said about his designated hitter.
Escano went 2-of-4 at-bat, a single and an HR to go along with 3 RBIs. “But hindi lang siya DH kasi may time na magiging third or first base siya. Pero for now, yun yung nakikita ko na role niya sa team,” Orillana added about the sophomore.
During La Salle’s rally, UST ace pitcher Lesmar Ventura (0-2) succumbed to fatigue after pitching the game’s first four innings. Relievers Ron dela Cruz and Jackson Acuna did not fare any better as the Taft-based batters picked up three more runs in both the sixth and eighth innings respectively — four coming off errors.
“Lahat ng mga pinasok nila ngayon dalawang out and then multiple errors na easy. So talagang malas, malas ibig sabihin, may kasamang malas,” said UST head coach Jeffrey Santiago.
Rookie Rafael Pascual, catcher Paul Naguit, and team captain Franco Hashimoto punched in two runs each for La Salle.
Third year pitcher Kiko Gesmundo (1-0) had four strikeouts and allowed eight hits in the game. All four of UST’s runs were earned but left a total of eight runners on base.
La Salle will next face Adamson (0-1) on Sunday, February 12 at 2:00pm. UST, on the other hand, takes on NU (1-0) on the same day at 11:00am.
