Ateneo nears 1st round sweep of UAAP baseball

MANILA, Philippines—Ateneo inched closer to a sweep of the first round of eliminations in the 75th UAAP baseball competition after an 11-3 drubbing of University of Santo Tomas Thursday at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.

Ateneo, which will face reigning champion National University in a rematch of last year’s finals on Sunday, notched its fourth straight victory.

The Blue Eagles recovered from a deficit early, then pulled away for good behind behind Bocc Bernardo, Leandro Banzon and Matt Laurel.

The Blue Eagles are on familiar ground having also swept the first round last season, but they are raring for a different ending this time.

Ateneo, after a strong start, floundered in the second round last season and yielded to the Bulldogs in the best-of-three championship series.

NU, meanwhile, defeated La Salle, 17-7, to maintain its hold of second place with a 3-1 record.

The Tigers dropped to 2-2, while the Green Archers slid to a 1-3 slate.