THE UST Golden Sox demolished Bulacan State University (BulSU), 15-2, in the Philippine Sports Commission Chairman’s Baseball Classic tournament at the Rizal Memorial Stadium last Nov. 23.
The España-based sluggers employed excellent defense and pitching to outscore BulSU and deny them of a chance to score in most of the innings.
The UST squad shook off a jittery 1-1 start in the first inning and went on a roll in the second, 5-1.
Ahead by four points, the Golden Sox fought complacency and denied the Malolos-based sluggers of a point on top of the third inning.
Bernardo Siaotong extended UST’s lead to five via a left field hit that scored a run batted in (RBI) at the bottom of the third frame.
On top of the fourth, Siaotong delivered excellent pitches to strike out two batters, while BulSU’s remaining batter’s left field swing was a fly out.
UST’s Arvin Plaza sparked a 8-0 scoring surge at the bottom of the fourth inning after stealing first base off a catching error, then Jamil Santiago, on his turn at bat, sent the ball skipping to the left field.
A pitching error thereafter sent Plaza and Santiago to the third and second bases, respectively.
Golden Sox Kirk Peralta’s center field hit was almost a fly out, but the ball rolled out of the outfielder’s hand, allowing Plaza to complete a run, as other Golden Sox members joined in the scoring barrage.
Carlo Conge scored an RBI single as the ball went through the first base man’s legs.
BulSU’s pitcher then made back-to-back errors that awarded bases to Amber Plaza and Khino Sabiniano.
Amiel Lallana scored 2RBI double to extend UST’s lead to 11 points, 13-2, while Andrew Mercado and Marlon Gonzales put the finishing touches as they both scored RBI doubles.
The Golden Sox batting lineup did not commit a single out.
“I expected the win as we were able to adjust our hitters and our pitching was good,” coach Jeffrey Santiago said.
In their opening game last Nov. 16, UST succumbed to Adamson University, 3-10.
