Adamson University secured a chance for an 11th consecutive UAAP Softball title after a hard-fought 5-0 victory against De La Salle University on Saturday at the UP Baseball Field in Diliman, Quezon City.
The Lady Falcons extended their unbeaten streak to seven this season and 16 games going back to their second game in the first round of the previous year.
“Medyo mababa ‘yung opensa namin ngayon but a win is a win,” said Adamson head coach Ana Santiago.
“Let’s see kung paano kami maglalaro against (University of Santo Tomas) kasi no-bearing na sa ‘min. Pero kahit no-bearing na, we’ll treat it like any other game, kasi ang preparation namin is for the Finals na. Kung paano kami maglalaro against UST will show how we’ll play sa Finals,” the RP Blu Girls head coach added.
Silenced by the gallant stand by De La Salle throughout the game, the holders took advantage of their opportunities to carve out runs.
Senior designated player Khrisha Cantor started it off with a solo inside-the-park homer in the second inning before Maryjane Libaton, batting for Rem Herrero, added the finishing touches with another dinger in the sixth.
Angelu Gabriel and Alaiza Talisik added the other two hits for the Lady Falcons, scoring one run each as well for the final tally.
On the other hand, University of the Philippines turned a huge fourth-inning stand into a pivotal 4-1 victory over UST to keep its title aspirations alive.
It was an important win for the Fighting Maroons as they cut the Tiger Softbelles’ lead to just one game for the last finals slot with just one game day to go.
The Tiger Softbelles’ potential victory could have closed the door on the Fighting Maroons, but instead, the latter gained a lease on life, thanks to timely hitting and heads-up defending.
Leading by just one in that fourth frame, UP needed to extricate itself from a possible tying run from UST as Jojielyn Lim and Shyla Celis were in prime scoring positions.
Two fly balls, though, ended the inning for the Tiger Softbelles.
“Sinabi ko lang sa kanila na maniwala sila sa sarili nila na kaya nila. Kahit pa national team ‘yung kalaban, kaya naman naming lumaban. Ito nga ‘yung resulta,” said UP tactician Ron Pagkaliwagan.
Fueled by that defensive stand, the Fighting Maroons scored three runs with rookie Generose Torremocha and Danica Aquino getting back-to-back hits.
A series of miscues from the Tiger Softbelles sent the two home before Ricca Vispo added another run to mount a 4-0 lead.
Michelle Santos, Angelica Notarte, Kim Niña Angeles, Kristina Reyes, Yan Yan Manansala, and Bu Alipato played their last games for La Salle, which finished the season with a 1-7 record.
The Lines:
DLSU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 1 4
AdU 0 1 2 0 0 2 x – 5 5 3
UP 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 – 4 5 4
UST 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 1 3 5
