PRAIRIE VIEW – On the strength of a big first inning, the Prairie View A&M baseball team (4-14) pushed aside Houston-Victoria 9-2 Tuesday afternoon at Tankersley Field.

"When you come out throwing strikes and giving yourself a chance to win, good things happen," PVAMU Head Baseball Coach Auntwan Riggins said. "We made our pitches to get outs, and we hit very well. We had two or three RBI hits with two outs. We did what we needed to do to get this win, and we did it pretty decisively. That's a good sign going forward."

After spotting the Jaguars a 1-0 lead, the Panthers responded with authority in the bottom of the first inning. There, PVAMU's lineup got to Houston-Victoria starter Tyler Price early and often. After Kellen Rogers and Calvin Rucker drew free passes – with Rogers stealing second and moving to third before Rucker reached – Brayden Johnson slapped a RBI single through the left side to bring home Rogers.

After David Garcia walked to load the bases, Andrew Garcia was hit by a pitch that allowed Rucker to score. Demarie' Smith then followed with a two-run single, and Zach Trevino added a RBI base hit to make it 5-1 in favor of the Panthers.

Though UHV scored once in the top of the second, Prairie View A&M went on to scratch a run across in the second and third innings to maintain control. Following a solid three innings of work from starter Isaiah Trevino, Caleb Rozypal came on in relief as he and the Panthers' defense shut down the Jaguars' lineup the rest of the way.

"It's very encouraging to see us pitch and play defense the way we did today," Riggins said. "This is something I saw all offseason so I'm not surprised by it. We wanted to build on Isaiah's confidence, and I think we did that. Caleb got more comfortable as his outing progressed. Jerson (Hardit) had his fastball working as well. We think these guys can help us coming out of the bullpen as the season goes, and if we continue to get this kind of effort from them, we can turn this season around."

The Panthers added a pair of runs for insurance as Smith scored on a double play in the fifth, and D. Garcia smacked a RBI double to score Rucker in the sixth inning.

Z. Trevino was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Johnson and Xavier Jefferson each had a pair of hits. Rozypal got the victory with 4.0 shutout innings of work.

"If we continue to put forth the effort we had today, we'll be pretty hard to beat," Riggins said. "We just have to keep this going and continue to believe we can compete with anyone."


Next Up:
The Panthers head to San Marcos, Texas to face Texas State tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.