Seventh heaven
By Anthony Divinagracia
04 February 2010 03:33 PM
Manila, Philippines - Minutes after formalizing its conquest of a team it only disposed off in the first round via the rule book, University of Santo Tomas (UST) coach Sandy Barredo confidently disclosed the Tigresses’ latest fight plan.
Sweep the elimination.
With three more games left deep into the second round, UST hurdled another major obstacle in its path, carving out a 14-6 rout of the slumping University of the East (UE) on Wednesday to remain peerless in the 72nd UAAP softball tournament at the UST field.
“We’ll go for a sweep,” Barredo said after the Tigresses boosted their record to 7-0 and erased the stigma of their 0-10 loss against UE in the first round.
The UE win however was reversed in favor of UST after the UAAP softball and baseball commission discovered that the Lady Warriors included an “unofficial” player in their official line-up.
“The secret of this victory is focus and good coordination between the players and coaches. Momentum remains on our side but we will not let our guard down. We will still make up for our shortcomings. Good thing our veterans delivered.”
And deliver they did – with a flourish.
UST staged a three-run coup on top of the pivotal fifth inning to break a 6-6 deadlock as veterans Karen Panghubasan, Aiza dela Torre and Lani Sarmiento made consecutive lead-offs at the plate, before Lilet Arago and Jennalyn Sarmiento exploited for a pair of homers in the sixth, underscoring UE’s catching and fielding woes which hounded the Lady Warriors the rest of the way.
Sharmaine Dionisio mounted the Tigresses’ three-run finisher in the seventh as she propelled De la Torre home before riding on an Arago looper off a second-base steal to join Sarmiento at the plate for good.
De la Torre capped her no-relief job at the mound with a flourish, yielding only 6 runs and 10 hits while UE counterpart Jenny Pangilinan surrendered 9 runs, 10 hits, and 7 errors in five innings of precarious pitching.
UE actually jumped the gun on UST, taking a 1-0 lead on Marilyn Francisco’s lone homerun in the first inning. She then fueled a four-run binge in the second with Joy Parilla, Maria Brenda Bacarisas and Lanilyn Aligno in tow.
The Tigresses countered with two runs in the third courtesy of Polinario and Melanie Laserna to give UST a 6-5 edge before Francisco struck anew, unleashing a fourth-inning solo that forced the critical 6-all standoff.
In other games, Adamson University blanked University of the Philippines (UP), 5-0, to solidify its hold of second place at 6-1 while Ateneo de Manila University claimed its fourth win in seven outings with a 12-1 drubbing of bottom-feeder De La Salle University.
UST stakes its immaculate record on Saturday when it meets Ateneo at 11 a.m. while Adamson faces La Salle in the 1 p.m. wrap-off. UP and UE try to regain lost ground when they clash in the 9 a.m.-opener.
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historic sweep
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safe or out?
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eyes on the ball
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check out the action between the UP & Adamson on the diamond
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softball dance
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sexy run
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