GAME ONE BOX SCORE
GAME TWO BOX SCORE
The Prairie View A&M Lady Panther softball team split a doubleheader on Saturday against the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff in contrasting fashions. The Lady Panthers won the opener in dramatic fashion by a margin of 7-6 before falling 14-2 in five innings during the series finale.
In the opener, Prairie View rallied back from a three-run deficit in the seventh as freshman Sarina Rios singled home the winning run for a 7-6 comeback victory.
Prairie View began Saturday's doubleheader off to a hot start by scoring a run in back-to-back frames while holding their opposition scoreless en route to an early 2-0 advantage after two innings. However, the Lady Lions responded rapidly by giving the Lady Panthers a taste of their own medicine as UAPB answered with a two-run rally of their own over the course of the third and fourth frames to knot the contest at 2-all
With the ballgame swaying back-and-forth, the Lady Lions found themselves over the hump for the first time in the contest as Allison Gutierrez nailed a shot down the left field line which advanced Misti Cosby and Valerie Higareda to home for a 4-2 lead after the top of the fifth.
Prairie View A&M freshman catcher Leanna Flores recorded a one-out single in the bottom of the fifth and advanced to second after an errant throw by UAPB. Flores advanced to third shortly thereafter on a single from Bridget Coronado and cut the deficit to 4-3 as leftfielder Kesha Hagerman hit an RBI double that skipped through the infield.
Pine Bluff made an attempt to put the game away in the top of the seventh with a two-run homer from An'jewellique Frazier which bumped the margin to 6-3. Down by three runs entering the final stanza, the Lady Panthers rolled up their sleeves and went to work.
In its final at bat, PV struck right away as senior Artavia Woods led the inning off with a single. The Lady Panthers followed with two consecutive singles from Flores and Coronado which put the tying runs on base.
With the bases loaded, freshman designated hitter Darlene Salinas drew a bases-loaded walk which trimmed PV's deficit to 6-4. Second baseman Jasmine Littles stepped to the plate with a chance to bring in the tying run and did just that after socking a double to the outfield fence as Flores and pinch-runner Lauren Grun rounded the bases for a 6-6 advantage.
Tied at 6-all, the Lady Panthers held the upper hand with only one out and Rios at the plate. The Edinburg, Texas native finalized her performance as she drove in the winning run to right as pinch runner Shawn Williams crossed home for a 7-6 victory.
The Lady Panthers finished the contest with 15 hits while Coronado accounted for five strikeouts in seven innings on the mound. Flores, Hagerman and Coronado led PV with three hits apiece.
Game two was a far cry from the opener as UAPB used a 10-run fourth inning to blow past Prairie View A&M 14-2 in five innings.
Arkansas Pine-Bluff jumped ahead 4-0 after two innings as they rallied behind a three-run homer from Cece Kolesar to kickoff the second frame.
Prairie View was unable to bounce back from that point as they recorded just four hits through four innings of action. UAPB put the game out of reach as they scored 10 runs in the fourth frame en route to a 14-0 advantage.
PV tallied two runs in the fifth frame as sophomore Brittanie Gardner accounted for a two-run homer to center. Unfortunately, Prairie View didn't have anything else left in the gas tank as the deficit was too big to overcome.
Lauren Grun led PV at the plate with a 2-of-2 performance followed by two RBIs from Gardner.
PV returns to action on Friday, April 8 with a bout against Texas Southern at 3 p.m. in Houston at Memorial Park.
