BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — The Prairie View A&M Panthers came up just short in a pair of tightly contested games Saturday, falling 4-3 and 5-4 to the Southern Jaguars.

In game one, Prairie View A&M (25-16, 17-3) outhit Southern 7-6 but couldn't capitalize late in a 4-3 loss.  Kayla Adams (9-4) went the distance in the circle, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits while striking out four without issuing a walk.

Trailing 2-0 in the third, the Panthers got on the board with an RBI single from Mia Nunez to score Kearstin Tinsley. After Southern extended its lead to 4-1, Prairie View responded in the fifth inning as Caidence Martin delivered an RBI single to help cut the deficit to 4-3. Despite going 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position, the Panthers were unable to push across the tying run.

Game two saw Prairie View A&M (25-17, 17-4) rally from an early deficit but fall just short again, 5-4.  Kayla Zaid led the Panthers offensively with a standout 3-for-4 performance at the plate, while Nunez added an RBI and two walks. Martin also contributed two RBIs.

Southern jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Prairie View answered with a three-run third inning to tie the game. The Panthers took a 4-3 lead in the fourth when Aryana Cruz came around to score, but Southern responded with two runs over the final three innings to secure the sweep.

Yazmyn Stewart (9-4) took the loss in game two, while Gabrielle Larson provided a bright spot out of the bullpen with a scoreless inning, striking out two without allowing a hit.

Prairie View showed resilience throughout the day, combining for 11 runs across both games, but ultimately couldn't hold off late pushes from Southern in either contest.