Bulldogs back in baseball contention

National University withstood tremendous pressure in every inning to beat mighty rival University of the Philippines, 7-2, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines baseball tournament on Thursday night at the UP Baseball Field in Diliman, Quezon City.Coming from back-to-back setbacks, the Bulldogs sensed another danger on a 2-run advantage by the Maroons at the bottom first.But the Sampaloc batters levelled the score at 2-2 in the next frame, followed by a run in the 3rd and another pair in the midgame.Knowing UP’s ability to mount a comeback, NU’s coaching staff, headed by Romar Landicho (former Maroon standout), assisted by Robin Go, pitching mentor Junmar Diarao and conditioning coach Fil-Am Mon Espina, instructed the troops to stay focused, minimize errors and step up on defense.The ploy made the UP scoreless in the remaining inning up to their last bat, where a possible game changer never happened, due to Bulldogs’ ace pitcher MJ Carolino’s no-relief job with sterling power at the mound.A rotation deployed by the Bulldogs at the bullpen paid off as Nico Calanday hit a double and sent home by Joven Maulit’s RBI (run-batted-in), followed by Maulit’s run via RBI by Kiel Olazo to put their team to safer grounds, 7-2, en route to the victory over UP, which fielded 3 pitchers in the entire game, in vain.“This victory is a morale booster for the team and a confidence buildup for our future games particularly in the next round,” said coach Landicho, as he acknowledged the full support of team manager Wopsy Zamora and chief motivator Rey Sol.“A positive sign for our boys who can stand up playing under pressure. This is a game we can’t afford to lose. Now at 2-2, we’re back in contention,” Zamora said.Other Bulldogs instrumental to the team’s victory were Nigel Paule, Kent Altarejos, Jude Maulit, Herald Tenorio, Gio Corpido, Cyrill Antipolo, Amiel de Guzman and Jherick Timban.