BOX SCORE

BATON ROUGE, La.- It happened in an instant. Once first baseman Dominiq Harris caught the pass from shortstop James Fontenot to record the final out of Prairie View A&M's 7-4 SWAC Championship victory over Mississippi Valley, the entire team rushed the mound, tackling saving pitcher Daniel Castillo.

The Panthers withstood a three-run rally from MVSU to claim Prairie View A&M's first SWAC Championship since the 2007 season and only the third baseball championship in school history. It was the first time any player on the current team experienced a championship victory and was also the first SWAC Championship trophy for four-year head coach Waskyla Cullivan to claim.

Prairie View A&M got going early offensively, and used championship-caliber pitching performances by starter Derrick Mitchell and Castillo to keep the Delta Devils at bay.

Andre Oliver and James Fontenot both reached on walks in the top of the third putting runners on first and second.They executed a perfect double steal, putting runners in scoring position for Brett Valley. He crushed a two-RBI single to right field, giving the Panthers a 2-0 lead. After a sac bunt by Brad Benes, Valley advanced to second and Dominiq Harris hit an RBI double to left to give PV the 3-0 lead with one out.

Starter Derrick Mitchell went 5 1/3 scoreless innings, and got into trouble in the sixth with location and walked home Mississippi Valley's first run of the game with one out on the board. Panthers coach Waskyla Cullivan turned to Daniel Castillo to take over. Castillo forced the Delta Devils' Luke Brumfield into a 6-4-3 double play to escape with the treacherous inning. Mitchell was awarded the win and only surrendered one earned run.

Leading off the top of the seventh, Andre Oliver reached on a single, and Fontenot reached on a sac bunt turned error to put runners on first and second for Brett Valley with no outs. Valley laid down a perfect drag bunt to load the bases for Brad Benes.

Benes drew a walk and recorded an RBI as Oliver scored from third to give Prairie View a 4-1 lead with no outs. Prairie View sealed the deal in the eighth as two runs scored on a fielding error by MVSU on a James Fontenot grounder to third base to take a 6-1 lead; the Panthers finished the top of the eighth with a 7-1 stretch.

Mississippi Valley went on to score three runs in the bottom of the eighth off of Castillo, but the Panthers held on to prevail. Prairie View A&M catcher Evan Richard went 1-for-3 in the championship game and batted 5-for-13 in the SWAC tournament with three RBIs, three runs scored and six base on balls. He was named the SWAC Tournament MVP for his combined excellence, and Prairie View A&M coach Waskyla Cullivan was named the SWAC Coach of the Year after leading the Panthers to a 28-23 season, an NCAA Tournament berth and the SWAC Championship.

The Panthers will find out next Monday their 2012 NCAA Regional destination.