Adamson University-Philippines fell short of its bid to reach the gold medal match of the Asian Universities Women Softball Asia Cup 2024 after losing to undefeated host Chinese Taipei in five innings, 9-1, on Friday afternoon at the Taichung International Field.
The Lady Falcons finished the elimination round with a 4-2 record – only losing to Chinese Taipei and Japan, the two teams that will collide for the championship.
Adamson can still bring home a trophy to the Philippines as it will compete in the bronze medal game tomorrow as 12 p.m. against South Korea, which the Lady Falcons defeated in the elims, 7-0.
The Taiwanese side converted right away in the top of the first inning with Kuei-Ping Yeh and Pao-Hsiu Liao delivering base hits against Philippines pitcher Jane Marie Sigue that scored Ting-En Chiang and Yeh, respectively, for an early 2-0 lead.
Chinese Taipei then poured it on in the second inning with seven more runs to blow the game wide open.
After getting the first out, Sigue walked Yu-Yen Huang and Yi-Yun Chung, prompting Adamson head coach Ana Santiago to replace her with ace pitcher Glory Alonzo.
Alonzo, who was unhittable in the previous games, however could not retire any of the three batters she faced, giving up a single to each one that forced Santiago to call Reyae Villamin from the bullpen.
Villamin then allowed four more Taiwanese to score through hits, wild pitch, and errors before she finally stopped the bleeding by retiring Yu-Yen Huang via groundout but it was already a 9-0 blowout by then.
The Philippines’ lone run came from MJ Maguad’s double to left center field that plated Remilie Herrero in the bottom of the fourth stanza.
With one last chance to extend the game and avoid losing via mercy rule, Neo May Mahinay and MJ Libaton both singled in the fifth inning but they were both stranded as Jeelyn Pajotal and Villamin flew out to center.
The hit disparity was not far, with Chinese Taipei tallying 10 against the Philippines’ six but the Taiwanese squad brought their runners home.
The top of the order delivered for the hosts with Chiang and Hsi-Yen Chen getting two hits apiece while Yeh had three of her own.
Yi-Shan Chu, who took the win, along with Hsia-Ai Ke and Min-Hsuan Lee commanded their pitches well, combining for 43 strikes in just 52 pitches.
Ninth batter Mahinay and lead-off hitter Libaton got two hits each but the trio of Angelu Gabriel, Villamin, and Herrero which followed Libaton could not convert.
