PRAIRIE VIEW - Prairie View used a pair of middle-inning home runs and a timely late answer to turn back Texas A&M University–Victoria 11-6 on Tuesday afternoon in Prairie View, Texas, closing out an offensive-minded contest with a decisive three-run eighth inning.
After Texas A&M–Victoria cut what had been a six-run deficit down to 8-6 with a four-run rally in the top of the eighth, Prairie View immediately restored control in the bottom half. With two runners aboard, Michael Burroughs delivered the decisive blow, launching a three-run homer to left to push the lead back to 11-6 and deflate the Jaguars' comeback bid. The shot capped a three-run frame that effectively put the game out of reach and secured the Panthers' victory.
The Panthers built their cushion steadily from the opening inning. In the bottom of the first, Jordan Williams put Prairie View on the board with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Tyvon Moore for a 1-0 lead. Two innings later, Rayland Duson extended the margin with a solo home run to left in the third, making it 2-0. Prairie View kept pressing in the fourth when Dylan Diaz added a two-run homer, stretching the advantage to 4-0 and putting early pressure on Texas A&M–Victoria starter J. Mireles, who took the loss after four innings.
Texas A&M–Victoria finally broke through in the sixth on an RBI single from R. Olguin, who drove in C. Kaiser to cut the deficit to 4-1. Any momentum was short-lived, however, as Prairie View answered with a four-run surge in the bottom of the sixth. Moore, who reached base four times, delivered a three-run home run as the key swing in the inning, pushing the Panthers' lead to 8-1 and highlighting a powerful day in the middle of the lineup.
The Jaguars mounted their biggest threat in the top of the eighth, piecing together four runs on a groundout that brought in a run and advanced others, a run-scoring wild pitch and an RBI single. That sequence trimmed Prairie View's lead to 8-6 and brought the tying run to the plate, but reliever O. Brown and the Panthers' defense limited further damage. Prairie View's immediate three-run response in the bottom of the inning, punctuated by Burroughs' homer, swung the momentum back firmly in the home team's favor.
Moore finished 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBIs and three runs scored, while also being hit by a pitch twice to spark multiple innings. Burroughs went 2-for-? with a home run, three RBIs and two walks, and Diaz added two hits, including his two-run shot, with two runs and two RBIs. As a team, Prairie View totaled 12 hits, including four home runs and two doubles, and stranded six runners.
On the mound, starter Kamar Dove, followed by relievers Oliver Brown, and Rayce Hudson combined to hold Texas A&M–Victoria to six runs on nine hits, with seven strikeouts and five walks over nine innings. Brown earned the win with a strong three-inning relief outing, allowing just two hits and one run while striking out three on 64 pitches. Texas A&M–Victoria finished with nine hits and left 10 runners on base, led by Olguin's three-hit, one-RBI performance, but could not overcome Prairie View's sustained power and timely run production.
