The Panthers of Prairie View A&M University took on the Rams of Huston- Tillotson Tuesday. As the contest began the Panthers’ pitching staff and the outstanding infield stopped the Rams from scoring any runs and just getting one hit. In the bottom of the first inning the Panther offense got started with a screaming double from Michael Richard. On the next pitch Richard showed great athleticism and stole third base.
Richard would then score off a magnificent home run from Myrio Richard over the right field wall. Going into the second inning the Rams answered with a run of their own, due to some creative base running and crafty batting. In the bottom of the second inning the Panther offense struck back with another flurry of runs started by a triple from Calvin Lester. This, along with errors from the Rams defense, allowed the Panther to put three more runs together in the a close game.
At the start of the third inning Huston- Tillotson got its offense together and tagged the pitching staff for three runs, the Rams were able to get some hits in on the Panther defense, keeping this battle close.
Through the bottom of the third to the bottom of the fifth, the game became a pitching duel with both sides shutting out each other. The top of the sixth was the end of duel with the Rams getting some base hits and scoring two runs on the Panther defense.
Prairie View came out swinging in the bottom of the sixth inning with Michael Richard smashing a solo home run over the left field wall. This shot was a big boost to the struggling offense in this close battle of baseball titans. This flash of greatness was short lived as it was the only run scored by Prairie View, knotting the game up 6-6. In the seventh inning Huston Tillotson put up one more run on the scoreboard, putting them up late in the game.
The Panthers took the diamond in the bottom of the seventh in a last attempt to save the close game but came up short, losing to Huston- Tillotson 7-6. This hard fought battle dropped the Panthers to 9-6 on the season.
Prairie View gets ready for Grambling State March 3 and 4.