PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – The Prairie View A&M Panthers snapped an eight-game losing streak Saturday by prevailing 8-7 in a back-and-forth game against Wiley College.
 
A pair of throwing errors on consecutive ninth-inning sacrifice bunts allowed pinch runner Joe Mack to score the game-winning run and give the Panthers the victory over their NAIA opponent from Marshall, Texas.
 
Jordan Johnson pitched the final three and two-thirds innings of relief to pick up his first win of the season for the Panthers (7-17). Johnson struck out five while allowing three earned runs and scattering four hits.
 
Freshman catcher Thi Mai (pictured) hit a team-high two RBIs for the Panthers, scoring Shannon Washington and Gabriel Rodriguez with a double – hit first collegiate extra-base hit – in the bottom of the first inning. Cody Den Beste knocked an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning.
 
Darrien Williams started on the mound for the Panthers and pitched five and one-thirds innings, allowing only one earned run while striking out five batters. He allowed five hits and walked five batters while throwing 118 pitches.
 
Defensive miscues yielded runs for both teams in the early going. Williams' mound counterpart Jose Hernandez allowed five runs over six and one-thirds innings for the Wildcats, but didn't allow an earned run until the seventh inning.
 
Wiley College (11-22) took advantage of two PVAMU errors to take a 3-0 lead after a half-inning. The Panthers immediately responded as Kevin Macias reached base on an error to lead off the bottom of the first and then scored Gabriel Rodriguez' RBI double. With two outs, Mai knocked his two-RBI double, and then scored Brashad Jones' RBI single that gave PVAMU a 4-3 lead.
 
The visiting Wildcats tied the game at 4-4 in the third inning with a sacrifice fly from Daniel Rojas. The score remained tied through the middle innings, with both teams stranding the bases loaded in the sixth inning.
 
After Wiley College pushed two across in the top of the seventh inning, the Panthers clawed back in the bottom half of the inning when Angel Avalos led off with a single, and after moving to second on a wild pitch, scored on Den Beste's double.
 
In the eighth inning, the Panthers put their first two runners when Josh Wells walked and Nick Gurka singled. Kevin Macias hit a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second to third before Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Avalos then drew a bases-loaded walk from Jonathon Young to tie the game at 6-6. With a chance to take the lead Washington hit an infield ground ball that retired Avalos, but Washington beat the throw to first to allow Gurka to score and give the home team the lead.
 
Wiley College tied the game in the top of the ninth inning when Eloy Reyna III hit a two-out double to the left-centerfield gap. Defensive replacement Kevin LaHaie made a diving effort to make the catch and end the game, but the umpires ruled that he had trapped the ball.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, catcher Jaron Hicks led off the inning with a walk. Hicks, who had come on as a defensive replacement when Mai was pinch-ran for, was himself substituted for pinch runner Mack. Jones then knocked a sacrifice bunt, but stayed on the base paths when Young's throw to first was wild.
 
With runners on first and second, Wells was asked to do the same, and he too intended to sacrifice, only to see Young uncork an errant throw. This time the throw went into right field foul territory, allowing Mack to score the game-winning run from second base.
 
The Panthers return to action Sunday when they conclude their weekend series with the Wildcats. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.