| SCOREBOARD |
| FINAL | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| DLSU (1-0) | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 7 | 10 |
| UP (0-1) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 9 |
Bomb Squad!
The runners-up in the UAAP Baseball tournament a season ago made an empathic statement in their season opener with a 19-5 lambasting of the UP Fighting Maroons last Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
Right from the get-go, all but two of the DLSU Green Batters led by opening batter Francisco Hashimoto were able to score a run in the opening inning. This forced the Fighting Maroons to relieve rookie pitcher Kenneth Marinas in the 1st inning, who was replaced by sophomore Julio Miguel Herrera.
As the game progressed, the pitching problems of the UP Fighting Maroons were amplified. The constant shuffling to find the right pitchers did not stop with Herrera. Super-senior JC Pantan, Jose Miguel San Juan, and Martin Senador all took turns to try and stop the onslaught brought upon by the DLSU batters but to no avail. The quintet of UP pitchers combined gave up a total of 19 runs, seven hits, and 11 BB’s while striking-out just one batter.
The DLSU pitching, on the other hand, was crisp. Starting pitcher, rookie Francis Gesmundo opened well for the Green Batters but as the game went on, the Fighting Maroons were able to figure his style out. The rookie gave up five runs in the five innings he pitched. Relievers and fellow rookies, Vicente Barandiaran and Jonathan Park did not allow the Maroons to continue the momentum they were gaining.
The Green Batter lead swelled to 14 with the 10 starting players able to score a run by the end of the 7th inning.
The green side was led by Hashimoto, going four for four (4AB with 4 runs), and Carlo Laurel, with three runs, three hits, 4 RBI’s, 1 1B and 1 3B. Leading batter for the Maroons was James Legaspi with a run, three hits, an RBI, a 1B and 2 2B’s.
The next game for the DLSU Green Batters will be on Thursday, January 26 against the NU Bulldogs while the UP Fighting Maroons face-off against the defending champions, the ADMU Blue Batters in the baseball version of the Battle of Katipunan on the same day.
