GRAMBLING, La. - The Prairie View A&M baseball team went 1-1 in the first two of their three game series against Grambling State, falling 7-4 in game one and winning 10-7 in game two.
 
GSU, 7 – PVAM, 4
Grambling took the first lead, jumping out 5-0 on PVAMU in the bottom of the second. In the top of the third frame the Panthers had a solo run.  The inning began with two back-to-back singles from junior Andrew Garcia to right field, and by sophomore Demarie Smith through the left side landing both runners on first and second.  Senior Daniel Lingua hit a single to left field and allowing Garcia to touch home plate for the single RBI, and the team's first hit of the game.
 
Grambling homered in the bottom of the fifth to advance the score 6-1, before junior Avery Williams answered with a home run of his own and cut the deficit to 6-2.
 
Both teams went scoreless in the seventh inning, before Grambling extended their lead with another solo-run inning in the bottom of the eighth heading into the final inning with a comfortable 7-2 lead.
 
PVAMU threatened to rally in the top of ninth with two runners on base from walks.  Smith reached base on a fielder's choice placing runners on both corners.  Lingua doubled to left center to cut the lead to 7-4, unfortunately the momentum ended with a strike out to close out the contest.
 
Lingua had two hits and led with 3 RBI. Garcia also had two hits apiece.
 
PVAMU, 10 – GSU, 7
Game two was much different as the Panthers held the lead for the entire game.  PVAMU took the lead first, putting up a run in the top of the first courtesy of sophomore Brian Williams.  The frame opened with a single by junior Gordon Tyler, who singled to right field.
 
The Panthers struck again taking a 6-0 lead in the top of the second.  Junior Xavier Jefferson opened the frame with a walk, before sophomore Tracy Warren hit a leadoff single to center advancing Jefferson to third placing runners on both corners.  Freshman Mark Kirkland began the scoring on a single through the left side bringing in Jefferson for the first run.
 
On a fielder's choice Smith reached first scoring Warren for the second run of the inning to advance the score 3-0. Lingua singled to left center for a two run RBI.  GSU starter was retired right before freshman Alex Martinez doubled down the life line scoring Lingua for the final run of the inning to take a 6-0 lead.
 
Grambling didn't score until the bottom of the second on a homer for the first run.  On back-to-back singles the Tigers added two more runs to cut the deficit 6-3. 
 
The Panthers extended their lead adding four more runs in the top of the fifth.  Prairie View A&M saw eight at-bats putting up four runs on two hits and two walks to take a 10-3 lead.  On back-to-back walks to Jefferson and Warren, brought in Kirkland, who reached base on error scoring both Jefferson and Warren.
 
A Garcia single through the right side as well as a Lingua single to left center scored Kirkland for the final run of the inning.
 
Grambling responded with three runs in the bottom of the ninth threatening a rally, but the Panthers were able to escape with the final score of 10-7.
 
Lingua's 3-for-4 performance yielded the only multi-RBI show of the evening game for the Panthers, as he brought in four runs to lead the scoring. B. Williams, Warren, and Kirkland each went 2-for-4 at the plate, with one of B. Williams hits working for an RBI.
 
 
 
Junior Tyler Laux pitched his first complete game of the season hurling for nine innings.  Laux notched seven strikeouts in 42 batters faced, surrendering six earned runs on 14 hits.
 
The two teams will meet again on Sunday at 2 p.m., for the final game of the three game series in Grambling.