Jasmin near perfect as Adamson batters near title

Adamson coach Orlando Binarao was expecting an offensive battle between two teams that knew how to score runs. But alas, it turned out to be a spectacular pitching performance by his ace hurler Romeo Jasmin.

Jasmin came out with a big-time display on the mound to lift the Falcons to a 3-1 victory over National University and moved within the threshold of claiming the 72nd UAAP baseball championship in front of a good-sized crowd at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.

A former league MVP in 2008 and likewise won the same award for the Batangas Bulls in Baseball Philippines Series 5 last June, the right-handed Jasmin flirted at a chance to complete a rare perfect game before staving off a late Bulldogs rally in the last two innings to secure the win.

With that, the San Marcelino-based can secure the league's first three-peat in over a decade and finish off NU with a victory in Game 2 on Thursday.

Adamson's Joselito Bermoza and Jay Vizcarra made run-scoring hits in a two-run second inning that saw the former finishing the game with two RBIs (runs-batted-in) off two hits in three at-bats.

But Binarao was glad to have Jasmin deliver in the opening contest of this best-of-three title showdown after yielding six hits and struck out four batters in a no-relief effort.

"Ineexpect ko talaga entering this game, magkakatalo sa paluan pero masaya din ako nagdeliver si (Romeo) Jasmin at pati na din yung depensa namin walang error," Binarao said.

The Nueva Ecija native was obviously in the zone, retiring the first 21 batters he faced and was two innings shy of completing a performance that is rarely seen in the sport.

Jasmin eventually gave up his first hit of the contest when NU's Mick Natividad singled to right field to start off the eighth. Then the Bulldog bark begun to make things interesting.

Natividad eventually went to second then got an opportunity to put the Sampaloc batters on the board with a hit to center by Raffy Dimaculangan with one out.

But centerfielder Richard Siacor came through with a perfect throw to home plate and catcher Edward Landicho easily tagged a hustling Natividad, who didn't even try to slide home, out.

The Falcons eventually made catcher Alfredo Olivarez hit a groundball for shortstop Jenald Pareja to throw it to second baseman Gian Llaguno to complete a forced out at second and end the inning.

However, the threat didn't end there as the Bulldogs had two runners on board with one out in the ninth after Bryan Lumbres and Jarus Inobio made a pair of singles. Natividad then flied out for the second out before rookie MJ Gante drilled a chopper past the second base to score Lumbres.

Despite threatening anew, Jasmin settled as he forced Ram Casey Alipio to hit his first pitch straight into Siacor at center to score the final out to the dismay of a strong NU crowd that includes the men's basketball team led by shooter Kokoy Hermosisima.

Binarao plans to make Jasmin fresher and used him in the latter innings for Thursday's clash.

"Plano ko papasok ko yung second-string na pitcher ko para makapagpahinga naman si Jasmin," Binarao said.

Bermoza gave Adamson its first run of the game when he drove home Siacor all the way from first on a triple to right field with no outs in the second, then scored on a one-out single by Vizcarra to left.

In the sixth, Bermoza again brought Siacor home with a groundball past the Alipio, the Bulldogs' starting shortstop, and into left for a commanding 3-0 advantage.