Blue Eagles rout baseball champ NU

ATENEO (baseball), National University (men’s tennis), La Salle (women’s tennis) and Adamson (softball) stayed unbeaten in a busy UAAP weekend at Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.

The Blue Eagles completed a five-game sweep after a surprise rout of defending champion NU, 9-2, behind Bocc Bernardo, Adrianne Bernardo and Dio Remollo yesterday at the end of the first round of baseball competition.

But the Bulldogs came out strong in men’s tennis as last season’s runner-up posted a 5-0 shutout of Ateneo and a 4-1 dumping of University of the Philippines to stay perfect in four games.

Defending champion La Salle had a shot at keeping a share of the top spot, but University of Santo Tomas dealt the Archers their first defeat with a 3-2 decision in the other duel.

Ralph Barte, the MVP two seasons ago, clinched the deciding singles match over Ernesto Pantua, 6-2, 6-1, as the Tigers picked up their second straight win while snapping the Archers’ three-game run.

La Salle, though, emerged triumphant in women’s action with former MVP Reggie Santiago, rookie Marinel Rudas and Martina Guba leading the Lady Archers to thrilling wins over reigning titlist UST (3-2) and Ateneo (3-2) for a 3-0 slate.

Softball powerhouse Adamson, meanwhile, overwhelmed winless Ateneo, 12-5, as the defending champion stretched its winning streak to seven games.

In women’s volleyball, Adamson improved to a 5-3 card after pinning a second straight loss on early favorite Ateneo, 25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 16-25, 15-10, yesterday at Filoil Flying V Arena.