UNIVERSITY of the Philippines turned back De La Salle, 10-3, to clinch the remaining Final Four berth yesterday in the UAAP Season 79 softball tournament at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
The Lady Maroons had two outs in the second frame but were able to unload eight runs, as the Lady Archers suffered a maze of errors which was the turning point of the do-or-die match.
A semifinals date with defending six-time champion Adamson University awaits UP tomorrow at the same Malate venue.
The other Final Four pairing pits No. 2 National University and last year’s finalist University of Santo Tomas.
Holding twice-to-beat advantages for finishing 1-2 in the eliminations, the Lady Falcons and the Lady Bulldogs need only once to advance in the best-of-three Finals.
The semifinals decider, if necessary, will be played on Monday.
In baseball Wednesday, De La Salle kept its bid for a back-to-back title campaign with a 8-5 win over early finalist Ateneo.
UST and Adamson University are tied at six after 11 innings and their game was suspended due to darkness. The resumption will be announced later.
The Growling Tigers, who are at 6-2 in second place, need to beat the Falcons to advance in the title round opposite the Blue Eagles.
The Green Archers improved to 5-4 in third spot. De La Salle will force a playoff for the last championship berth if it beats UP on Sunday and UST loses to Ateneo and Adamson University in the resumption of their abandoned game.
NU defeated UP, 12-7, in a no-bearing match to rose at 4-5.