THE UST Tiger Softbelles clobbered defending champion Adamson University to move one win closer to the UAAP crown, 4-3, in Game 1 of the Season 80 softball finals at the Rizal Memorial Stadium Tuesday.
In the third inning, UST converted a trio of runs after CJ Roa hit a solid left grounder run-batted-in (RBI) double that sent Jessie Belaño to home plate.
Bianca Hernandez then struck a center-left-field two-RBI-single that resulted in Roa and Tin Palma’s conversions for a 4-2 lead.
Lady Falcon Delyrose Covarrubias hit a left-field RBI double at the bottom third for a Leslie Benabaye run to cut the deficit to one, 4-3.
Ace pitcher Ann Antolihao clamped down on Adamson’s batters and tallied seven strikeouts in the first four innings.
“Na-control lang namin yung palo nila tsaka depensa. Nagkataon lang na off sila,” UST coach Sandy Barredo said.
Palma’s bunt resulted in a Hannah Dela Torre run to put UST on board early, 1-0.
Adamson quickly responded at the bottom of the second inning with back-to-back home runs from Jeanette Rusia’s center-right-field hit and a Flor Pabiania conversion via a UST catching error for a 2-1 lead.
UST will try to clinch the series on March 16, Friday, 9 a.m., at the same venue.
