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NEW ORLEANS -Prairie View A&M saw a one-run lead in the sixth disappear with a late collapse down the stretch as Alabama A&M scored seven runs over the final three innings to claim an 11-5 win in the opening round of the 2014 SWAC Tournament in New Orleans, La.

Alabama A&M stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the first and held it until the third as Greg Salcido hit a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 margin.  The Panthers tied the contest in the fourth following RBIs from Grant Dougherty and Cody Den Beste and moved ahead 5-3 in the fifth after Robert Cossey's solo home run.  AAMU tied the contest in the bottom of the fifth but PVAMU completed the rare triple play following the RBI for the inning-ending outs.

Prairie View A&M reclaimed a 5-4 lead to open the sixth as Dominiq Harris doubled home Dougherty.  However, the lead was brief as a leadoff error allowed AAMU to reach base to open the bottom of the sixth.  AAMU moved the tying run to second via a sacrifice bunt and used an RBI single by Brandon Crutcher to knot the contest at 5-all.

The Panthers made a pitching change immediately after the RBI but the move didn't provide quick dividends as the Bulldogs hit a two-run homer to jump ahead 7-5.  After a strikeout and a double, AAMU increased its lead to 8-5 with an RBI single up the middle.  From that point, PVAMU struggled offensively while AAMU bust the gate open with a three-run eighth despite having two outs.

Five Panthers had two hits apiece while Jordan Stewart dropped to 2-5 on the season in a relief performance.

The Panthers will have to play from the consolation bracket early on for the second straight year as they'll play the loser of the Arkansas-Pine Bluff/Jackson State contest at 9 a.m. on Thursday.

An audio stream of the contest will be broadcast on www.SWAC.org along with live stats.