La Salle batters survive Maroons, sweep 1st round

MANILA, Philippines -- La Salle seized a five-run lead then quashed University of the Philippines' late uprising to eke out an 8-7 victory on Sunday and sweep the first round of the UAAP Season 76 baseball tournament at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The Archers banked on the hot batting of Basti Uichico (3 RBIs, 1 run on 2-of-4) and Carlo Muñoz (3 RBIs on a 3-of-4 clip) to storm to an 8-3 cushion and held on to their fifth straight victory and solo lead at the halfway point of the competition.
Defending champion Ateneo moved within striking distance of its rivals from Taft Avenue, edging last season's runner-up National U, 3-2, for a 4-1 card.

In the other game, University of Santo Tomas barged into the win column after a 0-3 start with a 12-5 shellacking of Adamson.

The Tigers joined the Falcons, the Bulldogs, and the Maroons in a heavy four-way tie for third spot with 1-3.

La Salle broke free from a 1-1 standoff with a four-run binge off three hits in the second inning.

Uichico whacked a triple to right field to score Fernando Felix Imperial, Christopher Michael Perlas and Francisco Hashimoto then reached home himself off a fielding error for a 5-1 lead. The Archers widened the gap to 8-3 in the eighth frame off Muñoz' run-scoring double.

The Maroons unleashed one final stand in the bottom ninth, managing to send four men to the plate, but the Archers secured the third and final out with a pickoff at second base to seal the win.