THE UST Tiger Softbelles squeaked past the National University Lady Bulldogs, 3-1, to clinch a Final Four spot in the UAAP Season 81 softball tournament at the Rizal Memorial Stadium Saturday.
UST tied the De La Salle University at second place behind a 7-4 win-loss card while NU slid to 5-6.
Tied at 1 in the third inning with two outs, UST’s Trisha Tiozon hammered a right-field-fly run-batted-in (RBI) double that sent Lealyn Guevarra to home plate, 2-1.
“Big factor ‘yong depensa namin kanina. Maganda ang pinukol ni Celyn (Ojare) at tinulungan pa siya ng depensa namin,” Softbelles head coach Sandy Barredo said.
UST’s Hanna de la Torre uncorked a grounder RBI double in the sixth inning that sent Mharnie de la Cruz back home to add insurance, 3-1.
NU’s lone conversion came in the first inning after Mery Ramos punched in a center field RBI double that sent Elsie de la Torre to home base, 1-1.
UST tallied 10 hits in 31 at-bats, while the Lady Bulldogs only had three hits in 24 at-bats.
The Softbelles will try to secure a twice-to-beat advantage against La Salle on March 18, Monday, 1 p.m., at the same venue.
