GAME BOX SCORE
Grambling State denied Prairie View A&M its first conference series sweep of the year as they used several big innings for a 15-6 win on Sunday afternoon in Prairie View, Texas.
The Panthers picked up where they left off on Saturday as they quickly moved on top 1-0 after a James Rodriguez RBI in the bottom of the first. However, the Tigers refused to return home without a win as they knotted the contest at 1-all following a sacrifice fly in the second. Several batters later, Prairie View fell behind by four as shortstop Chris Wolfe hit a grand slam over the right field fence.
Down 5-1, PV chipped away at the deficit during its next at-bat as senior Kyle Bible singled, stole second and made his way to third following an overthrow by the third baseman. The score changed to 5-2 shortly thereafter on Sal Hernandez's sacrifice RBI. In the third frame, the Panthers roared back behind a three-run rally to knot the contest up at 5-all behind four hits as Colby Hines, Rodriguez, Rafael Perez and Brandon Williams accounted for hits during the flurry.
With the contest knotted at 5, Grambling State went into another gear on both ends of the diamond as they scored eight unanswered runs over the next four innings for a 13-5 advantage. Both teams traded a runs in the eighth followed by another GSU run in the ninth for the final margin.
Prairie View A&M starter Ben Blackburn fell to 2-6 on the mound for the year after five innings of action. Bible and Rodriguez both led the way with two hits each with Rodriguez also driving home two RBIs.
The Panthers have concluded SWAC play after this weekend's finale and have clinched a spot in the SWAC Tournament for the first time since 2008 with a conference mark of 13-11. Depending on the outcome of Grambling's series finale against Arkansas-Pine Bluff next weekend, the Panthers will hold the division's second or third seed.
Prairie View will begin to wrap up the rest of their non-conference schedule before tournament play with a bout against the University of Texas on Tuesday, May 3 in Austin, Texas. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.
