PRAIRIE VIEW – The Prairie View A&M baseball team (2-9) was unable to overcome an early deficit, falling 6-5 to Southern during Southwestern Athletic Conference play Saturday afternoon at Tankersley Field.

The Jaguars surged ahead early, getting to senior Tyler Laux for five runs in the first inning. From that point, the senior right-hander settled down, keeping Southern quiet as the Panthers went to work on the offensive end.

"Tyler missed his spots early, and that allowed them to get the lead on us. But he came back and gave us five scoreless innings," PVAMU Head Baseball Coach Auntwan Riggins said. "We chipped away at it, and we were able to get back in it."

In the bottom of the second, the Panthers got on the board with a RBI single from Brayden Johnson. Christian Mendez followed by ripping a double down the left field line to bring home Johnson.

In the sixth inning, the Panthers knotted things up, getting to reliever Jacob Snyder for three runs in the frame. After scratching a run across thanks to a Jaguars error, Demarie' Smith slapped a two-run single to score Johnson and Andrew Paige.

Southern manufactured a run in the eighth, and though PVAMU loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth, the Panthers came up empty.

"Southern kept giving us opportunities to win this game, and we didn't take advantage," Riggins said. "We had the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, and we strike out twice. That's a sin in baseball."

Smith and Johnson each had a pair of hits. Andrew Garcia extended his hitting streak to seven games. David Garcia pushed his streak of consecutive games of reaching base to eight games.

Now, the Panthers look to salvage opening weekend of league play in tomorrow's series finale.

"We've got to come ready to play, and we have to play the game the right way," Riggins said. "We left so many runs out there. You can't do that against a scrappy team like Southern. They're going to throw strikes and make the plays, and you can't give them opportunities to win the game. But when we have the chance to win, we have to cash in."

First pitch for Sunday's game is set for 1 p.m. at Tankersley Field.

How to Follow:
– The game can be followed via Live Stats and Live Stream.