The Ateneo Blue Eagles survived a wild five-hour, 12-inning marathon with the University of Santo Tomas Golden Sox, pulling off a 14-12 victory Friday afternoon to regain the UAAP baseball crown at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
Gino Tantuico broke an 11-all tie by delivering a two-run double with two outs in the top half of the 12th inning before the Blue Eagles had to withstand a last-ditch rally by the Golden Sox to complete a sweep of the best-of-three series.
Pitcher Paolo Macasaet, who was later named Finals Most Valuable Player, retired Jackson Acuna on a groundout to second with runners on scoring position to give Ateneo its fourth title in five seasons while bouncing back from last year’s title loss to archrival La Salle.
The Blue Eagles clinched the title despite blowing a pair of leads, first a 9-3 lead as fielding errors allowed the Golden Sox to tie it up in the seventh.
Ateneo would regain control in the eighth, scoring two runs for a 11-9 lead, only to see UST tie it up two in the bottom half of the inning.
UST had a chance to win it in the 10th and force a deciding third game, but De la Cruz grounded out with two outs and the bases loaded.
Ateneo, coached by veteran mentor Randy Dizer, went 7-3 in the eliminations that saw six teams competing and was the first team to qualify for the finals.
The Golden Sox last won a title in 2011 when they swept the 10-game elims.