THE UST Tiger Softbelles succumbed to the DLSU Lady Batters for the first time since 2019, conceding a tight 6-5 loss in the UAAP Season 87 softball tournament at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium on Saturday, March 15.
Before Saturday, DLSU had not won a game against the Tiger Softbelles since March 18, 2019 when it defeated UST 7-0 in their Season 81 matchup.
UST assistant coach Esmeralda Tayag said the team would need a stronger mentality to have a shot at the Season 87 championship.
“One of the things they need to improve is ‘yong mindset siguro nila and their personal motivation kasi kahit anong push namin at turo namin, sila pa rin ang lalaro e,” Tayag told the Varsitarian.
“We need to beat the two leading teams para mas may chance makapasok sa finals.”
DLSU took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after Cassandra Inot reached home on an error, followed by a Joerjette Jordan RBI double that brought in Clariña Eder and April Gonzales.
The Softbelles quickly tied the game in the top of the second after Angela Solidarios’s sacrifice fly brought in Anne Patricio, and Lyca Blanco hit an RBI double to bring in Aiza Ganciar and Erika Fernandez, making it 3-3.
In the bottom of the same inning, however, Inot, Eder and Tiffany Labargan all scored with two outs after multiple UST errors, giving DLSU back the lead, 6-3.
Angel Bedaño notched the Tiger Softbelles’ first home run of the season in the top of the fourth frame, launching a pitch from DLSU starter Joerjette Jordan to left field, cutting the deficit to 6-4.
UST nearly rallied in the same inning as Aiza Ganciar scored a run while Blanco and Jojielyn Lim were in scoring positions, but multiple groundouts from Royeve Palma and Genesis Degollacion left them stranded before the fifth inning, 6-5.
Jordan secured the game for DLSU after allowing no hits for the rest of the game. She finished the game with two strikeouts, allowing six hits and three earned runs.
Blanco led UST with two RBIs, while Solidarios and Bedaño contributed one apiece.
The UST Tiger Softbelles will look to bounce back at the same venue on Tuesday, March 18, at 8 a.m.
