BIRMINGHAM – A start to an incredibly long day at the ballpark, filled with ups and downs emotionally and on the scoreboard, finally went in favor of the Prairie View A&M baseball team Friday in the first elimination game of the day as the Panthers pulled out a 6-3 win over Jackson State during the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
"Any time that you are down, it doesn't mean you are out of the game," said head baseball coach Auntwan Riggins.  "We still had plenty of ball game left and we started getting quality at bats after quality at bats.  We had a sac bunts that made the difference in the game coming out of the seventh inning."
 
The Panthers will play back-to-back elimination games today in order to secure a place in the double elimination portion of the bracket when the Panthers will battle Florida A&M in a scheduled 3 p.m. affair.
 
How it Happened:

• With two outs and catcher Mason Heiskell on second, PVAMU turned to big bat Benjamin Ybarra.  The Panthers third baseman hit an RBI single shot to right field to get Prairie View A&M on the board for a 1-0 lead over the JSU Tigers.
• Jackson State got on the board in the top of the fourth and added a run in the top of the fifth to take a 2-0 lead over the Panthers.  JSU added a run in the top of the seventh when Michael Dews stepped in for PV to hold off the runners on base.  The Panthers saw opportunity in the bottom part of the seventh taking advantage of every hit and base run that they could get.
• The bottom of the seventh opened with a walk by Blake Redman.  Zach Trevino followed with a single bunt to the pitcher as Redman remained on second.  Heiskell loaded the bases with a single down the third base line.  Zach Turner appeared at the plate for the first time this week stepping in for Demarie Smith.  Z. Turner hit a two RBI single to right field knotting the game at 3-3.  With one out and a pitching change Big bat Ybarra hit a RBI single through the right side to advance the score 4-3.  A bat later Alex Martinez kept things alive with an RBI single to the left side making it a 5-3 lead in favor of the Panthers.
• PVAMU added a final run in the bottom of the eighth starting with a single by Redman through the left side, advancing to second on a wild pitch.  With the bases loaded Jayden Williams who came in at center field for Smith hit a RBI sac fly to right field. 
• Dews and the Panthers held off Jackson State to take a 6-3 victory.
• The Panthers picked up its 30^th win of the season for the first time under the direction of Riggins and the first since the 2006 season.

 
The winner of the contest between FAMU and PV will advance to the semi- final rounds on Saturday before the championship game on Sunday.
 
Keep up with all the latest news and information for PVAMU athletics by following pvpanthers.com as well as through Twitter via the PVAMU general sports account (@PVAMUPanthers). You can also follow along on Instagram.com/pvamupanthers.