GAME BOX SCORE
A solo home run by junior catcher Evan Richard in the eighth inning broke a deadlocked game and propelled Prairie View A&M to an 12-11 victory over Houston Baptist during their regular season finale on Tuesday afternoon.
The Panthers pounced on the Huskies early using three productive innings to begin the contest as they rolled out to an 8-1 advantage behind a total of eight hits. PV continued to pour it on their opposition by holding HBU to just one run through five innings while bumping the margin to 10-1 in the bottom of the fifth after Kyle Bible's homer and an RBI from Brandon Brooks which occurred after Darryl Johnson's triple down the left field line.
Holding a comfortable lead, Prairie View was cruising along before HBU found life in the sixth inning with an RBI double to the center field wall from Luke Clements followed by Kolby Arnst's RBI single which cut the deficit to 10-3. After a quiet sixth, PV got back on the board in the seventh frame as Johnson hit his second homer of the afternoon over the left field wall which bumped the score to 11-3.
HBU refused to go away and put forth a furious rally in the eighth as they tied the contest at 11-all after accounting for eight runs and seven hits. The Huskies began the inning with walks from Clements and Collin Hetzler before an RBI double from Arnst. The Huskies went into another gear as back-to-back singles from Robbie Buller and Jake Gonzalez allowed two more runs to come in forcing a Prairie View pitching change.
The pitching change didn't live up to expectations as HBU continued where they left off with a RBI single from Matt Warren followed by a three-RBI double from Garrett Tully to pull within 11-10. The Panthers went to the bullpen once again in the inning as they summoned Daniel Castillo and HBU managed to knot the contest at 11-all following an RBI single by Clements. Castillo settled the Panthers down as they closed out the inning following a solid play from shortstop Giovanni Angel with the go-ahead runner on third.
Tied at 11 with one out in the bottom of the eighth, catcher Evan Richard stepped to the plate and picked the perfect time to record his second homer of the year with a solid shot over the left field wall and a 12-11 lead. Prairie View went on to protect its lead in the ninth as Castillo overcame a leadoff double to pick up his third win of the year.
Johnson finished the contest with the hot bat as the junior finished a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the plate with four runs and two RBIs. Six pitchers saw action as starter Kellen Simmons and Derrick Mitchell recorded three strikeouts apiece.
With the conclusion of the regular season, Prairie View (24-19) heads into SWAC Tournament play for the first time since 2008. The Panthers earned the third seed from the SWAC West and will face the No. 2 seed from the SWAC East on Wednesday, May 18 at Fairgrounds Field in Shreveport, La. beginning at noon.
