Every time the NU Lady Bulldogs and the UE Red Warriors square off, the first team to blink loses
| TEAMS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E |
| NU (7-1) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 2 | ||||||
| UE (4-5) | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
The surprising National University Lady Bulldogs continue to show determination, gaining another character-building win as they escaped the University of the East Lady Warriors, 2-1, in an extra inning affair, Monday afternoon at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
The win continues the Lady Bulldogs’ chase for top seed as they are just half-a-game behind the Adamson Lady Falcons. Meanwhile, the Lady Warriors dropped to a tie for fourth with the DLSU Lady Batters at 4-5.
“Games like this show yung tibay ng dibdib ng mga player namin. Like what happened dun sa first game namin, ito yung nagpapatibay sa dibdib ng mga players at ng team,” second-year Lady Bulldogs head coach Edgar delos Reyes said as their first round encounter ended 6-5 in an extra inning game as well.
And with their offense struggling to solve Lovely Redaja, the Lady Bulldogs looked to their bench, specifically sophomore Leila Tarroza, to spark them.
Down 1-0 entering the sixth inning, the 18-year-old connected on a two-out single to bring home Mia Macapagal for the tying run. The standout from Guinayang Annex National High School then delivered during the extra inning, bringing home Chad Tulalian after a base hit to right field for the winning run.
“Knowing these players, nakikita ko yung characteristics ng mga bata. At the same time, nakita ko yung pitchers ng UE, suited sa mga reserves ko,” Delos Reyes said about bringing in Tarroza during the sixth inning. “Sinasabi ko sa kanila, ‘every time may game tayo, mag-ready sila.’ Dun ko pinapakita na may tiwala ako sa kanila na everyone can perform.”
However, just as she was about to reach first base, Tarroza sprained her right ankle and had to be stretchered out of the game. The NU mentor though remains optimistic that she will recover quickly.
“Hopefully, maka-recover siya. May mga reserves naman tayo na ready to give her time to recover for the important games,” he added.
It was a struggle for both squads to bring home their runners. The Lady Bulldogs had 13 runners left on base while the Lady Warriors had 10.
Mia Macapagal pitched the last five innings for National U, allowing just one hit while striking out five batters.
UE’s only run came in the third inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, senior Roxzell Niloban popped a sac fly to right field to bring home Charlene Quintos for the game’s breakthrough run.
NU looks to extend their streak to eight when they face the Adamson Lady Falcons on Thursday, March 2 at 11:30am. UE, on the other hand, will break its tie with the DLSU Lady Batters at 9:30am.
