BOX SCORE
Prairie View A&M completed the series sweep over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sunday afternoon with a 9-6 win at home, improving to 14-8 and taking first place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference West Division at 7-1.
Panthers head coach
Waskyla Cullivan acknowledged how important a sweep in conference play can be for their overall goal of winning a SWAC championship.
“It was great to sweep Arkansas-Pine Bluff today,” Cullivan said. “Next week, we play Grambling, and we're going to be playing for the first half championship. We're in first place right now, and we're excited about the opportunity to and win to stay in first place. Last year we were in the same situation, and we went to Grambling and got swept. We don't want that to happen again.”
Grambling (13-8, 7-2 SWAC) is a game behind Prairie View in the West, and winning the weekend series for the Panthers would mean separation from the pack and moving one step closer to a top seeding in the SWAC Tournament.
On Sunday, the Panthers used a solid outing by Stef Hernandez on the mound and early offensive success to pick up the win. Trailing 3-1 in the third inning, the Panthers caught fire and scored four runs to take a decisive 5-3 lead. The three-hit inning was highlighted by a
Colby Hines' two-RBI single to right field that scored
James Fontenot and
Brandon Brooks.
With room to work with, Hernandez was able to go six innings, giving up three runs, all earned, and four strikeouts to pick up his second win of the season. Prairie View A&M added four more runs and held a 9-3 lead heading into the ninth inning. Brad Benes went 2-for-4 with a run scored, and
Andre Oliver went 2-for-5 with one run scored. Catcher
Evan Richard batted 1-for-2 with two runs scored, an RBI and three base on balls to put together a disciplined day at the plate.
Before heading to Grambling the Panthers will travel to Austin to take on Huston-Tillotson in a double-header starting at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27. The Panthers are 2-0 against Huston-Tillotson this season.
