SAN ANTONIO – The Prairie View A&M Panthers claimed their first win of the season over a team outside the Southwestern Athletic Conference with a doubleheader split at Incarnate Word.
 
At UIW's Sullivan Field, the host Cardinals eased their way to a 12-2 victory in the first game Tuesday before PVAMU struck back with a 5-1 triumph in the second contest of the day.
 
Brashad Jones' bases-clearing double broke a 1-1 tie and capped a four-run seventh inning for the Panthers (6-9), who gave first-year head coach Auntwan Riggins his first career win over a Southland program.
 
Edward Robledo pitched all nine innings of game two to earn the win and run his season record to 2-2. The senior from Wharton, Texas, scattered six hits and struck out four batters en route the win; he faced the minimum three batters in each of his first three innings, and was aided by multiple PVAMU double plays in the game.
 
Nick Gurka went 2-for-4 with an RBI double for the Panthers in the second game. Gurka's RBI to score Jones immediately followed Jones' knocking his bases-loaded double that scored three runs off UIW reliever Cody Allen, who absorbed the loss.
 
The Panthers wasted little time getting on the board, as Gurka opened the game with a single on a 0-2 count. He stole second and then advanced to third base when starting pitcher Austin Preiss threw a wild pitch. Gurka would then score on Kevin Macias' RBI groundout.
 
UIW would tie the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when cleanup hitter Brance Kahle knocked a sacrifice fly that allowed Eddy Gonzalez to score from third base.
 
Preiss pitched five innings for the Cardinals and struck out four while giving up the lone run in the first inning. Allen was charged for four runs in one and two-thirds innings before giving the ball to Brandon Moszkowicz, who struck out two and allowed only one PVAMU hit through the final two and one-thirds innings.
 
The Panthers held a brief lead in game one when Gurka hit a home run down the left field line on the contest's first pitch. Incarnate Word would get two triples among its first three batters to tie the game in the bottom of the first.
 
The Cardinals' 3-1 lead after one was cut in half in the top of the second when Joe Mack knocked an RBI double to score Shannon Washington, who reached base with a hit.
 
Washington went 3-for-4 for Prairie View A&M in game one, while Jaron Hicks and Edgar Sanchez picked up two singles apiece. Hicks was 2-for-2 with two walks.
 
Incarnate Word scored nine unanswered runs during the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings.
 
Jake Bedevian earned the win for the Cardinals in game one, while Trevor Hardee earned his first save of the year by allowing just two hits over the final three innings. Darrien Williams lost for the first time in the starting pitcher's role, allowing eight earned runs over five and two-thirds innings. Williams struck out six but gave up eight earned runs.
 
The Panthers begin a three-game series at Arkansas–Pine Bluff on Friday, with first pitch in the series opener scheduled for 3 p.m.