THE UST Golden Sox absorbed a 16-6 beating from the UP Fighting Maroons in the second round of the UAAP Season 86 baseball tournament at the UP Diliman Baseball field on Sunday, March 17.
A victory would have secured the Golden Sox the top spot, but instead, they are now tied with De La Salle University, Adamson University and Ateneo de Manila University, all with identical 4-3 win-loss records. UP improved to a 3-4 card.
The Golden Sox kept it within one in the bottom of the fourth inning after team captain Steven Dominguez and Justine Rosales delivered two runs off of Harry Geronimo’s run-batted-in (RBI) triple to right field, 5-4.
However, the Fighting Maroons stunned UST in the bottom fifth, driving in four runs to lead by three, 8-5.
Fielding errors and wild pitches by the Golden Sox in the later innings sustained the Fighting Maroons’ momentum, allowing UP to mount an 8-1 run capped by three runs by Kiel Agojo, Darren Mayo and Ian Mercado in the top ninth, 16-6.
In the bottom of the ninth, a wild pitch moved Rosales to second for a chance to get into scoring position. However, rookies Sean De Leon and Jesus Cabigao flew out to right before Jaywill Badrina struck out swinging against UP’s closer Kobe Torres to end the game.
“Hindi nag-connect e,” UST assistant coach Junjun Cerda told the Varsitarian. “Maraming errors tapos sakto ‘pag sila naman ‘yung papalo, ang tendency naman walang singit at talagang nagipit kami.”
“Hindi nag-connect ‘yung infield kasi medyo may butas. Pero still may three games pa kami so may chance pa naman makapasok sa top four.”
Golden Sox John Vargas gave UST a 3-0 lead after his run in the bottom of the second inning
Geronimo paced UST’s offense with five RBIs.
The Golden Sox will try to break the tie as they next face the Ateneo Blue Eagles at the same venue on Thursday, March 21, at 8 a.m.
