PRAIRIE VIEW – The Prairie View A&M baseball team (2-7) dropped an 8-4 decision Tuesday afternoon to Texas A&M – Corpus Christi at Tankersley Field.
The Panthers were neck and neck with the Islanders, as the sides had battled to a 1-1 tie following a RBI single by freshman Brayden Johnson that scored junior Christian Mendez.
However, the game unraveled for starter Tracy Warren and the Panthers, as a pair of errors helped fuel a seven-hit, five-run inning for the Islanders that gave them an 8-1 advantage.
"Tracy pitched a good game… he matched them pitch for pitch and kept us in it," PVAMU Head Baseball Coach Auntwan Riggins said. "We didn't play defense behind him. When you have a guy pitching as well as Tracy did, you have to make the routine plays. We didn't do that, and the game got away from us."
The Panthers showed some life in the seventh, cutting into the Islanders' advantage. After getting two runners on, the Panthers got them home after an attempted putout throw during a groundout by Jaylon Smith was airmailed. After Tyler Gordon drew a walk, Calvin Rucker later scored Gordon with a single to centerfield, bringing the Panthers within four.
However, that was a close as the Panthers would get. Prairie View A&M managed a threat in the bottom of the ninth following a walk by Smith and a Gordon single with one out, but the remainder of the side was retired.
The Panthers outhit the Islanders 9-8.
"This was the first time that we got the pitching and hitting we needed in the same game," Riggins said. "We just didn't play defense. We had five errors, and the last two cost us dearly. We have to be better defensively. We're going to get to work on pounding these ground balls and focus on getting ready for Southern. Anytime you make a mistake against them, they result in runs. We can't make these mistakes with conference play coming up."
Gordon, Johnson and David Garcia each had a pair of hits. Warren struck out four in 5.1 innings of work.
Next Up:
Prairie View A&M begins Southwestern Athletic Conference play with Southern this weekend. Game one will be Friday at 2 p.m. from Tankersley Field.
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