The UST Golden Sox captured their first win in thrilling fashion after pulling off an upset victory against the top-seeded UP Fighting Maroons, 13-6, in the UAAP Season 85 baseball tournament second-round opener at the UP Diliman Baseball Field on Wednesday.
Holding a 7-1 lead in the top of the second inning, Golden Sox Steve Dominguez hit a flyball to deep center field that sent Jayvee Selda and Justine Rosales home, 9-1, before Dominguez scored off Jester Tapia’s grounder to pull away, 10-1.
Dominguez delivered UST’s final home run after Aaron Geronimo’s ground hit in the ninth inning, 13-6.
UST head coach Jeffrey Santiago said he was elated that the Golden Sox finally translated their skills and game from training into the field.
“Sa umpisa pa lang may tiwala ako sa kanila na kaya nilang manalo. Ang problema nga lang, naka-box ang kanilang skills, parang hindi nila nailalabas pag dating dito,” Santiago told the Varsitarian.
“Siguro sa adjustment sa field. May mga nerbyos, may takot, at walang tiwala sa sarili. Yun ang inalis ko sa kanila,” he added.
Santiago said he kept reminding the team to not be too complacent during the game, which he described as an “attitude problem” that cost them their first game against Adamson University.
“Kahit lamang kayo, wag niyo sabihin na lamang kayo. Kaya rine-remind ko sila kanina, ‘hindi kayo lamang,’ para hindi sila manlamig o masyadong makumpyansa,” Santiago said.
Ahead by one in the top of the first inning,1-0, Golden Sox Dominguez lined a single to left field that plated Selda and Junel Cruz, 3-0, before Adrian Aguilar’s ground-ball run-batted-in (RBI) double sent Rosales and Dominguez to home plate, 5-0.
An error by the UP Fighting Maroons in the same inning allowed Aguilar to homer, 6-0.
In the third inning, Golden Sox Bryan Camarsi hit a sacrifice fly into right field for a Geronimo home run, extending UST’s lead to 11-1.
Down by 10 in the bottom of the fourth inning, 11-1, the Fighting Maroons rallied with four runs courtesy of Karl Liwanagan and Darren Mayo, and John Dela Cruz’s RBI double to center field that trimmed the deficit to six, 11-5.
Leftie Golden Sox relief pitcher John Barsales led the defense in the fifth, sixth, and seven innings, throwing five strikeouts, while centerfielder Dominguez helped with eight putouts throughout the match, including the game-sealing flyout in the ninth inning.
UST improved with a 1-5 win-loss late, while UP slid down to second place with a 4-2 record.
The Golden Sox will next face the Ateneo Blue Eagles on Sunday, April 2, 3:30 p.m., at the same venue.
