Adamson University completed an elimination round sweep of the UAAP Season 86 Softball tournament, defeating University of Santo Tomas in a highly defensive 4-1 decision on Wednesday at the UP Baseball Field in Diliman, Quezon City.
The result propelled the Lady Falcons to a chance at securing an 11th straight championship against either the Tiger Softbelles or the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons.
The two latter squads will face each other in a playoff this Saturday at 4:00 PM.
UP did its part earlier in the day with a dominant 15-0 victory over Ateneo de Manila University in an abbreviated, three-inning match.
Lady Falcons head coach Ana Santiago is not worrying about who they will face in the best-of-three finals.
“Hindi naman kami namimili ng kalaban kasi sinasabi ko sa mga bata na kaya namang lumaban. Basta kami lumaban kami ng honest na laro,” said the concurrent RP Blu Girls head coach.
“Pinakita lang rin namin ngayon na kaya naming maglaro ng ganun at handa lang kami kung sino man ang manalo sa UST o UP.”
The Lady Falcons managed two hits against Kikay Palma in the second inning but could not capitalize on the bases.
However, this offensive spark resulted in two runs in the third and fourth innings, giving them a 4-0 lead in this tight battle between two softball powerhouses.
Roma Cruz led the 10-peat queens with two hits on four at-bats, with her first hit of a triple starting the action in the second frame.
Senior Khrisha Cantor also contributed two hits, while Mary Jane Libaton drove in the other two runs in the third.
Reigning Athlete of the Year and MVP Nickole Dela Cruz of UP punctuated a massive eight-run second inning for last year’s runners-up with a home run to the right side.
She also scored Danica Aquino and Angel Pascual, setting up the mercy rule in the third with a 14-0 lead.
Dianne Pasco played a crucial role on the mound, retiring all nine batters she faced in a no-hitter, shutout performance, with two even getting dismissed.
The Scores:
UP 6 8 1 x x x x – 15 15 0
Ateneo 0 0 0 x x x x – 0 0 3
AdU 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 – 4 10 3
UST 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 – 1 6 1
