De La Salle University turned back Adamson University in a see-saw battle, 6-5, for its third win in the UAAP Season 86 Baseball Tournament on Thursday at the UP Baseball Field in Diliman, Quezon City.
The defending champions pulled through with the momentary solo lead with a 3-1 win-loss record, dealing the Soaring Falcons their third loss of the season, and it all came down to endgame breaks of the game.
With the score tied at three after six innings, the Green Batters took advantage of the Falcons’ errors to pull off a go-ahead run in the following frame.
Second baseman Patrick Rivera got on first on a fielding error of Soaring Falcons pitcher Kenneth Delos Santos.
But then another miscue – this time from second baseman Mark Montoya off a hit from JM Segui resulted in a save and the consequent Rivera run.
“Sinabi ko nga sa team na it’s everybody’s ball game. Pantay-pantay ang mga teams ngayon kaya huwag mag-relax. Nung lumamang sila, hinayaan ko lang kasi yung pitcher kaya naman nilang paluan,” said head coach Joseph Orillana.
“Pero gigil sila sa paluan kaya hindi sila nagko-contact ng solid. Kaya kung ganun, mag-inside baseball tayo.”
The Season 85 bronze medalists from San Marcelino restored the lead to their favor at 5-4 in the eighth inning with two runs.
However, De La Salle seized the lead for one last time in their turn on offense at the same frame.
Despite getting limited to four hits in the eight innings on offense, the Green Batters saved themselves from a deep hole.
They stranded nine runners on base, with Peter Nonaillada anchoring the defense in the six and two-thirds innings he took the mound.
Lord Aragorn De Vera, the 20-year-old, sophomore shortstop, had one of those four hits and crossed the plate twice for DLSU. Shinji Kajihara, JR Alcontin, and Ezy Bautista pinched in singles of their own.
Delos Santos’ solid pitching stint for Adamson was spoiled by the squad’s six errors that a huge hitting clip from the Soaring Falcons could not prevent them from sliding to a third setback this season.
The Lines:
AdU 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 – 5 12 6
DLSU 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 2 X – 6 4 3
