HOUSTON  - Prairie View A&M took Game 1 of the three-game weekend series against Texas Southern with a 7-2 victory at the MLB Urban Academy in Houston.

The Panthers got six strong innings from starter Michael Listi, who recorded seven strikeouts and surrendered just two earned runs off of three hits. Listi got a nice cushion to work with in the first inning as the Prairie View A&M offense set the pace with three runs.

Evan Richard started it off with an RBI double to score Brad Benes from second. Stef Hernandez then hit a two-RBI single to score Richard and Dominiq Harris to give the Panthers the 3-0 lead. Richard finished the day going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Hernandez went 3-for-4 with three RBIs.  Prairie View A&M put up 15 hits against Texas Southern on Saturday.

Listi held a 5-2 lead heading into the seventh inning before Panthers coach Waskyla Cullivan brought in reliever Daniel Castillo, who pitched three scoreless innings. Behind the two strong pitching performances Prairie View A&M improved to 19-14 with a league-leading 10-2 SWAC record. Texas Southern dropped to 17-18 (4-11 SWAC).

The Panthers will take on Texas Southern in a double-header Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. at MacGregor Park to close out the series.