BOX SCORE

LAKE CHARLES, La. - Its become a theme for the Panthers. For the third time in four games Prairie View A&M rallied to pick up a win.

McNeese State was the latest victim to fall prey to the Panthers, as Prairie View A&M picked up an 8-7 road win in extra innings at the Cowboy Diamond in Lake Charles, La.

Prairie View A&M starter Cody Thompson had a rough start and gave up seven runs in the second inning, seemingly putting the Panthers out of the game trailing 7-1. However, the bats began to heat up for the Panthers and Stef Hernandez came in to pitch 7 1/3 innings of nearly-hitless baseball to spur the improbable comeback.

“They jumped out on us, and we made a pitching change,” Prairie View A&M coach Waskyla Cullivan said. “He was the first guy out of the pen and he held it there. We chipped away. It was just a great performance.”

Hernandez threw five strikeouts and surrendered just one hit out of the bullpen, and the Panthers would score two runs each in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

Prairie View finished the game with a season-high 17 hits. The Panthers got solid production from the top of their lineup as leadoff hitter and center fielder Colby Hines went 3-for-6 with three runs. Hines most important run came in the top of the 10th inning when a sacrifice fly to right field by Brandon Brooks allowed him to tag up on third and score the eventual game-winning run. Then reliever DeLeon Boyd, was sent in to close in the bottom of the 10th and secure the win.

Left fielder Darryl Johnson, at the No. 2 spot in the order, finished with three hits off of five at bats and a RBI.

“We were down 7-4 and had the momentum,” Cullivan said. “We just kept chipping away, and we hit the baseball the whole night. All the way through we hit the ball. It's a great sign, because the opening weekend we weren't hitting at all.”

After finding their stride the Panthers have won four of their last five games, and have improved to 4-5 this season. Cullivan said he likes what he has seen from his team in as of late and will look for them to continue their high level of composure.

“We're definitely not giving up,” Cullivan said. “We're going to play each game all the way through. We don't put our heads down. I just tell them to stay even-keel. Don't get too high and don't get too low.”

Prairie View A&M will next host Wiley College in a double-header beginning at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 4 at Panther Field.