UST, AdU lead baseball, softball touney
MANILA, Philippines – University of Santo Tomas (UST) set the diamond ablaze with a five-game sweep to conquer the first round of the 73rd UAAP baseball tournament at the Rizal Memorial Ballpark.
Raring to atone for its lowly fifth-place finish last season, UST amassed 45 runs in five outings, including a 10-2 shellacking of defending champion Adamson University, which currently hold a third-best 2-3 card together with Ateneo de Manila University.
The Tigers wrapped their first-round campaign last Sunday by outlasting De La Salle University, 8-7.
Yielding only 17 runs after five games, UST also prevailed over National University (NU), 8-5; University of the Philippines (UP), 11-1; and Ateneo, 8-2.
The Bulldogs finished second with a 4-1 mark courtesy of victories against UP (5-3), Ateneo (3-0), La Salle (11-7), and Adamson (7-3).
UP and La Salle occupy the cellar with similar 1-4 slates.
In softball, Season 72 bridesmaid Adamson underscored its intention to snatch the crown from reigning titlist UST by going 5-0 after the first round.
The Lady Falcons demolished the Tigresses, 15-3, last Wednesday to complete their own sweep while collecting 47 homers and surrendering only 4.
Aside from UST, UP was the only team to score against the veteran-packed Lady Falcons, who later subdued the Lady Maroons, 5-1.
But against the rest of the pack, Adamson went on shut-out mode, blanking Ateneo (2-0), La Salle (19-0), and University of the East (6-0). The Lady Warriors though held the second spot with a 4-1 ledger while the Tigresses run third at 3-2.
La Salle, UP, and Ateneo round up the bottom half of the standings with identical 1-4 records.
The second round of softball and baseball actions begins on January 8 and 9, respectively. Anthony Divinagracia
