DE La Salle defeated archrival Ateneo, 8-5, on Wednesday at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium to keep the defending champions’ slim chance of a finals berth alive in the UAAP Season 79 baseball tournament.
Diego Lozano pitched a complete game for the DLSU Green Batters, allowing nine hits including three in the crucial final three innings where Alvin Herrera, Paolo Salud, and Kiko Gesmundo delivered run-scoring hits.
The Green Archers' baseball squad upped their mark to 5-4 win-loss to stay in third place and in contention for a finals berth.
La Salle stayed alive after the game between second-placer University of Santo Tomas (6-2) and Adamson was suspended due to darkness with the score tied at 4-4 in the 11th inning.
The top two teams at the end of the elimination round move to the best-of-three finals.
“Sabi ko sa team, labanan na lang ng pride. Hindi na namin hawak kung papasok kami sa finals. Pero dito, since Ateneo kalaban natin, labanan ng pride ‘to. Dapat mag-deliver tayo,” said La Salle coach Joseph Orillana
Herrera’s single in the seventh inning to score Iggy Escaño broke a 5-5 tie.
In the eighth, Gabriel Pineda drilled a lead-off single, advanced on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a single by Salud, who later scored on a Gesmundo single for a three-run lead.
Despite the loss, Ateneo (7-2) will remain at No. 1 regardless of the result of its remaining match against UST.