MADISON, Ala. – In the "if necessary" tie-breaker game that determined what team will be the opponent in the SWAC Championship game against Jackson State, the Prairie View A&M Panthers dropped an 8-4 hotly contested matchup to Southern University on Saturday, afternoon at Toyota Field.
How it Happened:
Unfortunately, the Panthers four runs on nine hits from five different batters was not enough to trump the Jaguars, who mustered 11 hits for eight runs off four PVAMU pitchers.
 
Just as they had done on Friday, the Panthers jumped out in front of Southern for an early 1-0 lead.  Junior Demarie' Smith opened the Panthers first inning half with a single up the middle, then stealing second before senior Xavier Jefferson grounded out to the second baseman moving Smith to his next base.  Freshman Benjamin Ybarra reached first on an error by the shortstop scoring Smith for the first run of the game.
 
After a scoreless second inning Southern responded with three runs on four hits in the top of the third to take a 3-1 lead over the Panthers.  PVAMU also scored one run in the same inning after Jefferson hit a triple to center field.  Ybarra hit a single RBI to left center to score Jefferson to put run number two on the board to close in on the Jags 3-2 lead.
 
Another scoreless inning was halted as the Jaguars earned two more runs in the fifth inning to command a 5-2 lead.  After a pitching change for Southern in the Panthers half of the fifth senior Tyler Gordon, who previously reached base off of a walk scored on a Ybarra sac fly to center field.  PVAMU was down by just two runs to make the game a little more interesting. 
 
The Panthers struck in the bottom of the seventh to close the 5-4 lead the Jags had over PVAMU.  Smith opened the scoring up with a bunt single to third base moving Gordon to second, who reached base on a hit by pitch earlier in the inning.  Again Ybarra singled to right center to score Gordon for a final run.  Unfortunately, the 5-4 game quickly turned into an 8-4 final in favor of Southern.
 
Ybarra went 2-for-4 on the day with four RBI, while Smith went 3-for-5 in the effort.  In addition to Ybarra's two hits Jefferson also added a pair of hits for the Panthers.  Sophomore Sebastian Coria and freshman Keanu Maldonado each posted one hit apiece.
 
The Jaguars left 11 men stranded on base in comparison to the Panthers eight men left on, but only logged one error between the two teams.
Sophomore Roberto Maldonado was charged with the loss for PVAMU, bringing his record to 0-5 to finish the season.  Sophomore Enrique Ozoa pitched 2.0 innings to earn the win for the Jags and improve to 6-0.
 
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