The Green Batters lost to defending champion Ateneo 8-3 in Game 2 of the UAAP Baseball finals last Tuesday. This is the best finish for the team since winning the title 11 years ago.
They topped the standings at the end of the eliminations, losing just once in ten games. But they somehow were not able to pull through in the finals against a more experienced Blue Eagles squad.
Despite coming into the Finals with a lesser record, the Blue Batters’ experience proved to be a huge difference as they made the necessary adjustments to propel them to a second straight crown.
Unlike the first two elimination round meetings where the Green Batters would always score first, Ateneo made sure that they would turn the tables in the Finals. The Blue Batters scored in the first four innings and immediately put pressure on La Salle.
The fourth inning once again proved to be a crucial juncture in the game as the Blue Batters tallied four runs in that inning alone courtesy of RBIs from Adriane Bernardo and Matt Laurel.
By the end of the sixth inning, the defending champions already held a huge 8-0 lead.
La Salle showed some signs of life in the seventh inning as first baseman Edward Flores got the Green Batters on the board via a 1 RBI triple. But, in the end, their comeback attempt evaporated as Ateneo’s all-around play was just too much for the LaSallians who made it back to the Finals for the first time since 2003.
The Green Spikers bowed out of the semis race, losing to Adamson 25-20, 27-25, 25-23 in their playoff duel yesterday.
It was a sorry loss for the team, who were denied an outright entry in the final 4 after being upset by the the then winless UE team in their last game in the eliminations. This enabled Adamson, who lost to Ateneo in their last outing to tie them for number 4 and force a playoff.
After finishing the first round at 7th place with a 2-5 slate, they racked up 5 straight wins including upsets over season 75 finalists NU and FEU.
Chess results yesterday.
M #DLSU def UP 2.5-1.5
W #DLSU def UE 4-0