Things could not get any worse for the lady batters from Katipunan after this.
In the last game of a three game slate, the University of the East Lady Warriors demolished the still winless Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles in an abbreviated sixth inning win, 10-1, Monday afternoon at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
Malou Blanco opened the scoring for the Lady Warriors right in the opening inning. After a single by Blanco and a sacrifice fly by Junaize Jaspe that gave Blanco first base, clean-up batter Charlene Quintos brought home Blanco to put one up on the scoreboard.
The Lady Eagles were able to get the run back at the bottom of the second inning. With one out and a full count, Cheska Imperial knocked a huge triple to center right field. A passed ball, or a failed catch by the catcher, led to an Imperial run to knot the game at 1-all.
Ateneo’s second pitcher of the game, Nicki Borromeo, greatly struggled against the UE lady batters in the third inning that opened the floodgates for the eventual blowout. After a ground out of Blanco, Jaspe connected with a base hit. She was brought home after three consecutive walks to give UE the lead. A sacrifice fly by Senangote punched in another run courtesy of Quintos.
Leslie Latina then knocked a single to the dismay of the hapless Ateneo defense that brought in Roxzelle Niloban while an error brought in UE’s fourth run of the inning. The rally was capped by a 2RBI single by Princess Huesca to put the Lady Warriors up 7-0.
“Matindi yung pagtalo namin sa NU, 6-0. Masakit sa loob namin kaya nagpursige kami na ayusin yung palo namin this game,” first year UE head coach Manuel Bacarisas said. “Yung palo namin nung game na yun puro tapat. Yung Ateneo puro bukas kaya pinilit namin na puro labas palo namin.”
After allowing two hits in the first two innings, UE pitchers Elvie Sengote and, later on, Jonavie Jerezano did not allow a single hit for the Ateneo offense. In addition, a bewildered Ateneo defense caved in in the sixth and final inning of the game in allowing three more runs, two coming from a single by Quintos.
Quintos had an excellent outing for the UE offense in going 2/3. She was able to connect on two singles for the game that assisted on two runs. Princess Huesca was able to contribute two RBIs as well. On the defensive end, Senangote only gave up three hits in the game, all singles.
“Last year kasi nagkatampuhan talaga sa team at nakita sa pitch. Pag pasok ko dito, yung mga gamit namin nawawala,” Bacarisas said after notching his team’s second win. “Yung pitch namin off pati yung batters namin hindi marunong pumalo inside at outside, hindi naka-adjust. Pati depensa namin hindi maka-doble. Inaayos namin lahat yan for this team this season.”
Following the game, Angela Natividad huddled the Lady Eagles for a closed-door meeting. “It is better that we did this meeting now. Last year, we only met as a team during our last game,” Natividad said to Tiebreaker Times. “We know we are better than this.”
The UE Lady Warriors open the February 10 slate of games as they face the Adamson Lady Falcons at 9:00am. The Ateneo Lady Eagles, on the other hand, have four days rest before facing the DLSU Lady Batters on Saturday, February 13.
| TEAMS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | R | H | E |
| UE (2-2) | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 3 |
| ADMU (0-4) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
