PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – The Houston Baptist Huskies squandered a 9-2 lead but scored eight of the final 11 runs Tuesday as they outslugged Prairie View A&M 21-17.
 
Angel Avalos went 4-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs to lead the Panthers, but it was not enough to keep Prairie View A&M (10-25) from dropping its second consecutive home game.
 
Carey Jones went 4-for-7 with a home run and four RBIs to lead the Huskies (19-20), who swept both games from the Panthers this season. Joe Van Marter hit two solo home runs for Houston Baptist.
 
J.T. Jakubik picked up the win in relief for the Huskies, pitching two and one-thirds innings and allowing just one earned run. Dylan Zarosky stanched a PVAMU rally in the bottom of the eighth and struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to earn the save.
 
Joseph Mack made his first start of the year on the mound for the Panthers, striking out three while walking seven in a losing effort. With the Panthers preserving their bullpen for their upcoming conference series this weekend, Mack gave up 13 earned runs while going six full innings before being taken out in the seventh with 142 pitches thrown.
 
Trailing 9-2 heading into the fourth inning, the Panthers rallied for six runs, four of which were provided off the bats of Avalos and David Drake. Avalos knocked a two-RBI single to score Nick Gurka and Santiago Rojas, and then Avalos came home when David Drake hit his first home run of the season to cut the lead to 9-8.
 
After a four-run fifth inning for the Huskies, the Panthers again responded, this time with five more runs to tie the game at 13-13. Gurka started the scoring with a two-run double that scored Rojas and Josh Jefferson, which was followed by a home run from Darrien Williams. Avalos followed with a solo home run.
 
Two innings later, Avalos hit his second solo home run of the game to give him a team-leading six home runs for the season.
 
The Panthers made it close again in the bottom of the eighth inning when Williams and Avalos knocked consecutive singles to score Jefferson and Gurka and cut the lead to 20-17. After David Drake drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases, HBU signaled for Zarosky to pitch to Josh Wells, who had entered Tuesday hitting .363 over his previous six games. Wells hit a hard, yet difficult grounder to second base, but the Huskie infield completed the play and the inning milliseconds before Wells touched the bag.
 
Drake, Gurka, Jefferson, Williams, and Brashad Jones all had two hits for the Panthers. Williams drove in three runs while Jones hit a two-run home run for the Panthers in the bottom of the second inning.
 
The Panthers close out their home schedule this weekend when they host Grambling State. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 3 p.m.