Caspillo's homer sparks Uni-Bikers
by Jonas Terrado
Uni-Bikers 12, Tigers 2
It has been a while since Marlon Caspillo has hit a home run and it was a timely blast that propelled the Dumaguete Uni-Bikers to their first victory of Baseball Philippines Series 5.
Sparked by Caspillo's blast, the Uni-Bikers unleashed a flurry of runs to eventually crushed the Alabang Tigers, 12-3, at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.
With Dumaguete trailing by a run in the sixth frame and with Bambol Servo at second base and Edmer del Socorro on first, Caspillo smashed a pitch from losing pitcher Roy Baclay that enabled them to gain a 4-2 advantage.
Re-energized by Caspillo's four-bagger, the Uni-Bikers went on to score eight more runs off seven of Alabang's eight errors in the last three innings to pull away for good.
The victory snapped a three-game skid to start the tourrnament, in which they nearly beat the undefeated Batangas Bulls last Saturday before succumbing to a 2-1 setback.
Alabang, which was coming off a 5-3 upset of the Manila Sharks last Sunday, fell to fifth place with a record of 1-4.
It was Caspillo's first four-bagger since December 7, when he hit one in a 3-1 win over Forward Taguig in the deciding game of the semifinals of Series 4.
Pitchers Joey Sta Maria and ace Darwin dela Calzada combined for seven strikeouts and allowed eight hits to limit Alabang's offense.
But it was the lefty Sta Maria, a member of Rizal Technological University, who shone the brightest of the two as he fanned five Tigers and allowed just two hits in four innings of work.
He saw limited action for the Manila Sharks during the previous two circuits before joining Dumaguete for this tournament.
Despite his performance, Sta Maria allowed Alabang to take a 2-0 lead in the fourth frame after Welvin Vispo hit an RBI single that scored Ruben Angeles before Erwin Manuel scored on a balk.
However, an RBI single by Saxon Omandac cut the lead to 2-1 during the fifth frame. An inning later, Servo hit a double to left field before del Socorro walked before Caspillo smashed one out of the ballpark.
Baclay was cruising to another solid outing, allowing just one run off three hits before giving up the homer.
Vispo, who has been doing well in his maiden stint in the league, had two RBIs off two hits in four at-bats to lead Alabang in a losing cause.