GAME ONE BOX
GAME TWO BOX
BATON ROUGE, La. – The Prairie View A&M baseball team upped their winning streak to six games with a conference doubleheader sweep over Southern University on Saturday afternoon at Lee-Hines Field.
Game one went into extra innings as the Panthers broke open a deadlocked ballgame with five runs in the 10th for a 6-1 win.
The Panthers claimed an early 1-0 lead in the second inning as Andre Oliver's RBI double scored Dominiq Harris, who reached base on a single. From there, the contest turned into a pitching duel between PV's Michael Listi and Southern's Jesse Holiday as both teams were held scoreless. After six solid innings of shutout ball from Listi, Prairie View A&M turned to closer Daniel Castillo in the seventh and the senior cruised in the seventh and eighth frames with a combined three strikeouts. However, Castillo ran into trouble in the ninth as Southern's Cameron McGriff hit a one-out triple and tied the game following Clint Ourso's RBI double. Castillo forced Southern's DeMario Ellis to fly out on the next at-bat but ran into trouble once again as Darrius Jennings was hit by a pitch. Despite the setbacks, Castillo persevered and sent the contest into extra innings as he forced an inning-ending groundout with two men on.
With the game entering extra frames and another contest scheduled immediately thereafter, the Panthers wasted no time in securing the victory in the 10th. Brad Benes drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second following James Rodriguez's grounder to the pitcher. Harris broke the tie with an RBI single to center and catcher Evan Richard added an exclamation mark with an RBI double for a 3-1 lead. PV's bats continued to sizzle while the Southern defense broke down as Andre Oliver, Brett Valley and Darryl Johnson drove in RBIs to seal the win. Holding a 6-1 lead, the Panthers closed the door as DeLeon Boyd entered in the bottom of the 10th and struck out two-of-three to seal the win in the opener.
Castillo earned the win for the Panthers on the mound while Evan Richard and Oliver had three hits each with Oliver also driving in two RBIs.
Sophomore leadoff hitter Colby Hines finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs as once again, the Panthers had another late-inning surge in a 6-1 series-clinching win.
After allowing a run on a sacrifice fly in the third, PV starter Derrick Mitchell kept the Jaguars at bay with six innings of three-hit ball. The Panther offense awoke in the seventh and rewarded Mitchell for his efforts as Oliver tied the game at 1-all with an RBI single which brought home Harris. Prairie View A&M managed to load the bases from that point and Hines took advantage with an RBI double down the left field line for a 3-1 lead. Brad Benes added two more runs with an RBI double to left as the Panthers led 5-1. In the eighth, PV returned to the scoreboard as Brett Valley doubled home Oliver for a 6-1 margin.
Mitchell picked up the win for the Panthers as he only allowed four hits with four strikeouts in eight innings of action. Himes had three hits and two RBIs while Benes followed with a pair of hits and RBIs.
The series concludes on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Baton Rouge, La.
