THE UST Tiger Softbelles staved off the twice-to-beat De La Salle University Lady Batters, 12-6, to stay alive in the UAAP Season 81 softball tournament semifinals at the Rizal Memorial Stadium Saturday.
The rubber match for the last finals berth will be on March 25, Monday, 10 a.m., at the same venue.
“Noong big inning namin na nakapasok ng six, nandoon na ‘yong focus nila, it is a matter of timing na lang kung magkakasunod tatama, nag-click naman kaya naka-score pa ng another five,” UST head coach Sandy Barredo said.
The Softbelles blew the game wide open at the top of the second inning with a huge six-run inning courtesy of Hanna de la Torre’s two-run home run, Lealyn Guevarra’s three-run homer and Irene Lumanas’ sacrifice fly that sent Jessiel Belaño back home, 6-0.
But La Salle got two back at the bottom of the second inning after a Kiana Juan center-right field two runs-batted-in (RBI) that brought Bernadette Benson and Gladelyn Alipato to home plate, 2-6.
Juan added three more conversions in the fourth inning with a three-run homer to the center field to cut La Salle’s deficit, 5-7.
UST put the finishing touches in the fifth inning with a two-out rally, scoring five runs courtesy of Henna Santiago, Charlotte Sales, Mharnie de la Cruz, de la Torre and Belaño, 12-5.
The Softbelles registered 13 hits while the Lady Batters only had six.
