PICTURED: Charles Philpott pitched two-thirds of an inning Friday at Grambling State.

GRAMBLING, La. – The Grambling State Tigers scored six unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth innings Friday to claim an 11-7 win over Prairie View A&M in their Southwestern Athletic Conference series opener.
 
The Tigers (8-13, 5-2 SWAC) batted around in the bottom of the eighth inning as they broke a 7-7 tie with four runs in the frame. Daniel Barnett led off the inning with a double and then scored two batters later on an outfield error.
 
Creighton Hoover picked up the win in relief for Grambling State, allowing only one run over two and two-thirds innings. Jordan Johnson took the loss for the Panthers (6-14, 3-6 SWAC), being responsible for the four runs scored in the eighth.
 
Prairie View A&M pitcher Joe Mack allowed only three earned runs over five and two-thirds innings in his first pitching start of the year.
 
The Panthers took leads in each of the four innings they scored, but couldn't hold on to them. PVAMU pitchers issued seven walks in the game; the team also committed four errors, though only three of GSU's runs were unearned.
 
Edgar Sanchez knocked his first home run in a PVAMU uniform with a two-run shot to left field in the top of the second inning to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead. Darrien Williams led off the top of the fourth with a home run – his third of the season, to reclaim a 4-3 lead for the visitors.
 
Trailing 5-4 in the seventh, the Panthers plated three runs, first with a two-out single from Kevin Macias to score Jaron Hicks. That was followed by Angel Avalos knocking a two-run double to left-center field to score Brashad Jones and Macias.
 
The three-run rally, which also gave Hoover a rough entry to the game, removed Grambling starter Issac O'Bear from consideration for the win. O'Bear struck out five batters over six and one-thirds innings, but gave up eight hits and was charged for six earned runs.
 
The first three PVAMU hitters in the seventh inning reached base, but the Tigers got the lead runner out on a pickoff move before the Panthers scored their first run of the frame. The turn of events may have prevented a bigger inning for the visiting team.
 
PVAMU and Grambling conclude their series Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled for 1 p.m. The final game of the series was pushed forward a day to Saturday due to Easter Sunday.