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HOUSTON – Prairie View A&M battled back from a pair of deficits on Tuesday afternoon en route to a 5-4, 5-2 doubleheader sweep over Texas College at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Houston.
Prairie View A&M rallied back from a three-run deficit to force extra innings before putting the game away in the 11th on Greg Salcido's sacrifice fly for a 5-4 victory in the opener.
The Panthers struck first in the bottom of the fourth as senior first baseman Dominiq Harris singled and advanced to third on fellow senior Jeff Sealy's single. Harris scored the game's first run on freshman Cody Den Beste's RBI double to cap off a three-hit inning.
Texas College knotted the contest at 1-all in the fifth on Caleb Searcy's RBI single and went up 4-1 in the seventh after a three-run homer from Alex Sallard. The Panthers tacked on a run in the bottom frame as pinch runner David Drake scored on a Robert Cossey RBI single. In the eighth, the Panthers tied the game at 4-all as center fielder Colby Hines hit a one out single followed by a towering two-run homer from Harris.
The contest turned into a pitching duel until the 11th as shortstop Walter Wells drew a leadoff walk followed by Cossey's one out double to left field. Playing for the force out, Texas College opted to walk Hines and loaded the bases for Salcido. Salcido nearly picked up the hit but the ball was deep enough for Wells to tag up and score the winning run.
Freshman Michael Dewey picked up his first career win as he struck out two in four innings of relief. Cossey and Harris had three hits each with Harris accounting for two RBIs.
In game two, the Panthers overcame a two-run deficit with five unanswered runs as they claimed the nightcap by a 5-2 margin.
Texas College opened the second inning with an RBI followed by a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the second, Sealy logged a one out single and moved to second as Den Beste was hit by a pitch. Wells drove in Prairie View A&M's first run of the game with an RBI single followed by Trey Price's sacrifice fly.
The Panthers put forth a workmanlike effort in the sixth as freshman Josh Jefferson was hit by a pitch with one out in the sixth and moved to second on Cossey's left field single. Hines executed a well-placed bunt in between the pitcher's mound and first base to load the bases but Texas College held PVAMU at bay as they threw out Jefferson at home on Salcido's fielder choice. With two outs, Harris hit a chopper down the third base lIne and Hines outran the third baseman to prolong the inning which in turn allowed Cossey to score the go-ahead run.
The Panthers had some minor trouble in the top of the seventh as Texas College had two runners on with two outs but Harris made a solid defensive play at first to end the inning. From that point, PVAMU put the contest away as they added a pair of runs in the bottom frame as Jefferson recorded an RBI single along with a wild pitch which scored Trey Price.
On the mound, PVAMU's relievers displayed a solid effort as they combined to strike out seven batters in five innings OF work. The duo of DeLeon Boyd and Charles Philpott struck out three batters apiece in 2.1 innings.
Sam Grant came on in relief to pick up the win while Sealy led PVAMU with a 3-for-4 performance.
The Panthers head to Edinburg, Texas this weekend as they'll play a trio of games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. PVAMU will face Northwestern State at 3 p.m. on Friday and Texas-Pan American on Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
