DE LA Salle University leaned on two huge offensive innings and a strong stand on defense to post a bounce-back 14-3 rout of National University in the UAAP Season 86 Baseball tournament on Sunday at the UP Baseball Field in Diliman, Quezon City.
The reigning back-to-back champions secured a 2-1 win-loss tally, making amends for the 5-9 defeat against league-leading University of Santo Tomas, with six of the runs scored coming from the third and sixth innings.
Shinji Kajihara ended with three hits on six at-bats, making a hit on all the huge offensive innings for the Green Batters, while JR Samuel also added two hits after getting retired on his first three at-bats.
Holding a comfortable 6-2 advantage heading into the sixth, the Green Batters added three to their tally in the said frame with designated hitter Marco Micael starting it off with a forced error on NU first baseman Herald Tenorio.
Micael eventually crossed the plate before right-fielder Ezy Bautista and center-fielder JM Segui followed suit against Bulldogs’ starting pitcher Cyril Antipolo.
“Yun nga ‘yung sinabi ko sa kanila after losing to UST, kulang kami sa paluan eh. Itong pagkatalo natin dapat maging wake-up call sa ‘tin na hindi pitcher lang ang dapat magta-trabaho sa team, kailangang tulungan ng paluan, which is lumabas naman today,” said De La Salle head coach Joseph Orillana.
The holders also had pitcher Peter Nonaillada to thank for in this huge win as the 21-year-old De La Salle Zobel product stifled the Bulldogs’ bats with just two runs on four hits in the seven innings he pitched before ceding the mound to Vince Flores.
“Sana magtuluy-tuloy at ‘tong momentum na ‘to gamitin nila sa mga susunod na games. Yun lang din naman gusto ko ‘eh, pati ‘yung chemistry din at huwag magpa-pressure.” Orillana added.
NU’s five pitchers could not contain the De La Salle battery this time, and their dismal clip on their offense with eight hits in the nine innings doomed them to a back-to-back setback.
The Bulldogs, who lost a tight one against Ateneo (5-4) last Thursday, slipped to a 1-2 win-loss record to tie University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons in fourth to fifth places.
The Lines:
DLSU 1 0 3 2 0 3 0 0 5 – 14 10 3
NU 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 – 3 8 2
