BOX SCORE

Prairie View A&M hung tough against No. 25 Texas in a 5-2 loss Tuesday night in Austin, receiving solid pitching performances from starter Sean Hollis and reliever Stephen Lunsford against their Big 12 foes.

Hollis made short work of Texas batters in the first inning, forcing two groundouts and a fly out to Colby Hines in centerfield to get the Panthers out of the inning without any damage. Hollis took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning before the Longhorns (26-16) caught fire and stung him for three runs and took a 4-2 lead. He went five innings, surrendering six hits and four earned runs, recording two strike outs. Lunsford went three innings, surrendering one earned run. He recorded three strike outs.

James Fontenot got things started offensively for the Panthers in the fourth with his eighth double of the season. That was followed by a single for Brett Valley to put runners on first and second with no outs for Brad Benes.  Benes grounded at on a Sac bunt to put runners in scoring position with one out for Prairie View A&M power hitter Dominiq Harris.

Harris gave the Panthers the lead with a two RBI single to clear the bases and put Prairie View up 2-1.

The Panthers where held hitless for 3 innings by Texas right hander Ricky Jacquez before that surge in the fourth.

Jaquez was pulled after the fourth for reliever Austin Dicharry. He and the rest of the Texas bullpen limited the Panthers to just three hits the remainder of the game.

Panthers coach Waskyla Cullivan was impressed with his team's play on such a big stage and said it will pay dividends heading into the pivotal weekend series against Grambling State, beginning with a double-header at noon on Saturday.

“We got a great start, and that gave us good momentum,” Cullivan said. “We had great pitching and solid hitting through out. There were a few mistakes. We definitely gained some momentum playing well against a school like Texas heading into Grambling State.”

The Panthers are 22-21 with a 13-7 SWAC record. They have a two-game lead over Grambling State (11-9 SWAC).