HOUSTON – The Texas Southern Tigers overcame a five-run deficit Friday to claim a 6-5 victory over Prairie View A&M in the Southwestern Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
 
Richard Alamo went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, including the game-winner in the bottom of the fifth for the Tigers (4-6). Larry Romero struck out 10 batters over seven innings to pick up the win for Texas Southern.
 
Charles Philpott struck out seven batters over four innings, but also walked seven as he absorbed the loss for the visiting Panthers (2-7).
 
Prairie View A&M took an early 5-0 lead in the top of the third inning, which was highlighted by Nick Gurka's two-RBI double that scored Brashad Jones and Tai Mai for the Panthers' second and third runs. Gurka came home on a triple by Kevin Macias, who himself scored on a sacrifice fly by Angel Avalos.
 
The Panthers opened the third inning when Edgar Sanchez singled and Mai walked. Jones then moved the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt, but the throw from Romero was wide and allowed Sanchez to score the game's first run.
 
Texas Southern wasted little time cutting into the deficit, as the Tigers answered with five runs of their own in the bottom of the third. TSU got one run in before PVAMU got two outs, but did most of the damage with two outs in the inning. With two on, Philpott walked two consecutive batters to bring home TSU's second run, before Alamo singled up the middle to score two more. Gerrick Jimenez would tie the game as the lead runner on a double steal.
 
Alex Richardson pitched four innings of relief for the Panthers and struck out four while allowing just one hit. Robert Pearson pitched the final two innings for TSU and earned the save.
 
Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern combined for 26 strikeouts during Friday's game.
 
The two teams return to action Saturday for the second game of the weekend series. First pitch from MacGregor Park is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday's game will be aired on the OpenMic Broadcast Network.