The Prairie View A&M University baseball team spent spring break on the road to play four different series against some of the region’s better teams.
First, they played two games against the Cardinals of Lamar University.
The first game was played as badly as the Panthers could have hoped as the Cardinals shellacked the Panthers 16-1.
The Cardinals put this game out of reach early as they plated seven runs in the bottom of the first and five more in the bottom of the second.
The lone run scored by the Panthers was on a wild pitch in the top of the sixth.
In their second matchup the next day, the Panthers responded with a much better effort, perhaps aided by the events of the previous day against Lamar University.
They scored first as Kyle Bible singled home Giovanni Angel in the top of the first inning; however, Brandon Williams was thrown out at home to keep it at a 1-0 Prairie View lead.
The Cardinals responded with four runs in the bottom of the first catalyzed by five of the first six batters reaching base off starter Mark Almaguer.
Prairie View cut the lead to two as Evan Richard scored on a RBI single by Jason Thomas.
Although the pitching did not let a run score after the first inning, the offense again struggled to produce as the final score remained at 4-2 Cardinals.
On March 13 and 14, the Panthers played a three game series against reigning SWAC champions Southern University Jaguars.
In the first game, the Jaguars took a 4-1 lead into the 6th inning.
The Panthers exploded for six well-timed runs with a mixture of timely hitting after a Southern error started the inning.
Bible, Rafael Perez, and Thomas all provided timely hits in the inning to give the Jaguars a 7-4 lead.
The Jaguars did not back down as they rebounded with two runs each in the 7th and 8th innings to take an 8-7 lead heading into the 9th inning.
The Panthers showed their resilience again as Andre Oliver mounted his own two out rally by singling, stealing 2nd base, reaching third on a passed ball, and scoring on a Salvador Hernandez single to tie the game at eight and send it into extra innings.
However, the Jaguars scored in the bottom of the 10th to claim a hard-fought 9-8 victory.
The second game in the series started with the Panthers’ bats again showing life as they led with four in the top of the first, keyed by two early Jaguar errors and a two RBI double by Thomas.
Southern showed championship toughness and responded with five runs in the bottom of the first to take control of the game again.
After that point, the Panthers failed to score another run and the Jaguars continued to press the gas pedal to run away with a 14-4 final.
In the third game, the Panthers were trying to find a way to salvage a win for their first in SWAC play. However, they were never in the lead in this game as the Jaguars finished the sweep, 6-2.
The scoring started when pitcher Kellen Simmons balked home the first Jaguar run in the bottom of the first as Southern took a 4-0 lead in the top of the fifth.
The Panthers scored two in the fifth to cut the lead to 2-4, but it was not to be as the Jaguars added two more in the eighth.
After a couple of days off, the Panthers were back on the diamond to host a doubleheader with the Jarvis Christian College Bulldogs.
The Panthers scored first in the first, on a RBI single by Andre Oliver that scored Salvador Hernandez.
However, the Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead in the third after scoring on a single and a fielder’s choice.
In the fourth, the Bulldogs took advantage of a multitude of minor miscues from the Panthers to score three more to take a 5-1 lead.
The Panthers proceeded to come back as they have all year and scored one run in the fourth and after Jarvis Christian added a run, the Panthers responded with two runs in each the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game at 6.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, the Bulldogs scored in the top of the eighth to secure a hard-fought 7-6 victory.
The second game of the doubleheader again started with the Panthers scoring first as they put up two runs in the bottom of the second, keyed by a hit and a run scored by Dominiq Harris. However, as characterized by the continual struggles of the Panthers, Jarvis Christian tied the game in the third on a home run and took the lead in the fourth at 4-2.
Again, the Panthers came alive at a crucial time as they tied the score at four in the bottom of the sixth on RBI doubles by Harris and Brandon Brooks.
But, similar to the first game, the Bulldogs responded with a single run in the top of the seventh that proved to be the deciding run as the game ended with a score of 5-4.
The Panthers baseball team concluded a two-week odyssey with a weekend series against the Golden Lions of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
In the Saturday encounter, the Panthers obliterated the Lions 14-2 in a run-rule shortened contest. The Panthers tied the game in the third as Brandon Brooks scored on an error by the Pine Bluff second baseman.
The Golden Lions took the lead back 2-1 as they scored a run in the forth inning on a wild pitch.
Then back-to-back two out doubles from Richard and Perez gave the Panthers a 3-2 edge.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Panthers used seven walks from UAPB pitchers and five singles to plate 11 runs to produce the final margin. After relief pitcher Anthony Neves struck out the side in the top of the fifth for the Panthers.
The game was called due to the 10-run rule and gave the Panthers their first SWAC win of the year.