Nicole Hammoude drove in five runs as the RP Blu Girls’ bats came alive, dismantling Indonesia in just four innings, 11-0, in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games softball tournament on Tuesday at Queen Sirikit Stadium in Thailand.
After narrowly escaping Singapore in their opener, 2-1, the Philippine sluggers finally found their rhythm, with shortstop Hammoude delivering five RBIs on two big swings in the third and fourth innings.
Hammoude launched a three-run homer to dead center in the third, extending the Blu Girls’ lead to 8-0 while also scoring Sky Ellazar and Roma Cruz.
In the top of the fourth, with two outs already, the Louisiana Tech infielder brought home Alyssa Daniell and Cruz on a fly ball to right-center, making it 10-0.
MJ Libaton gave the Philippines an early 5-0 advantage in the first inning with a bases-clearing triple. She attempted to stretch it into an inside-the-park home run but was tagged out at the plate.
On the mound, 20-year-old MJ Alpitche pitched all four innings for the Blu Girls, allowing just three hits, keeping Indonesia scoreless, and striking out four batters.
Now at 2-0, the Philippines aims to secure a spot in the gold medal match with victories over Malaysia and host nation Thailand on Wednesday.
The Blu Girls will face Malaysia at 10:30 AM before taking on Thailand at 3:30 PM.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHI | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | x | x | x | 11 | 9 | 1 |
| INA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | x | x | 0 | 3 | 1 |
