PRAIRIE VIEW – The Prairie View A&M baseball team (2-10, 0-3 SWAC) dropped a tough 20-0 contest to Southern (5-6, 3-0 SWAC) in Southwestern Athletic Conference play Sunday afternoon at Tankersley Field.

"When you give up 11 free passes, allow 15 hits and commit five errors, that's how you allow 20 runs," PVAMU Head Baseball Coach Auntwan Riggins. "It's tough to win like that. We did not compete well today. We played two good games this weekend, and then this happens. Something's missing, and we're going to have to figure it out."

Southern opened up a 6-0 advantage in the first inning, and the Panthers were unable to recover. Though the Panthers were able to erase a similar deficit in the previous contest, the PVAMU lineup struggled to figure out Southern starter Joseph Battaglia throughout the day.

Meanwhile, the heart of the Jaguars order managed to find success over the course of the contest, and defensive miscues plagued the Panthers all afternoon.

The Panthers posted their first scoring threat in the top of the fourth as Brayden Johnson reached on a fielder's choice and swiped second with two outs, but a strikeout ended the inning. The Panthers' best opportunity came in the fifth inning when Andrew Garcia reached on fielder's choice and Jaylon Smith drew a walk with two down, but Southern managed to force a Zach Trevino groundout to end the inning.

"We have to go back to the drawing board tomorrow and work on what we didn't do well," Riggins said. "Some of that is about getting back into the classroom and understanding the mental aspect of the game. We have to get better, and we've got to want it. We have to have pride for the game and for the name across our chests. Right now, we're searching for it. There's a lot of season left to turn this around, but we have to want to turn it around."

Battaglia allowed no hits in the game to earn the win for the Jaguars. Bubba Thompson led Southern's offense with a 4-for-5 day at the plate, scoring four runs and driving in four.

Next Up:
– The Panthers hit the road for a Tuesday afternoon contest at Houston Baptist. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Husky Field.