The Prairie View A&M University baseball team opened its 2010 campaign with a doubleheader in Corpus Christi against the Islanders of Texas A&M Corpus Christi.
In the first game, the Panthers struck early by scoring two runs in the top of the first on RBI hits by Brandon Williams and Dominiq Harris.
The Islanders responded with three in the bottom of the second after a bases clearing double by Jeramie Marek.
After a scoreless third, the Panthers tied the game in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Brooks that scored Kyle Bible. However, the Islanders responded by batting around in a four-run fourth to take the lead headlined by a two-run home run by Marc Damon off Panther starter Benjamin Blackburn.
However, the Panthers would not go quietly; they came back with three runs in the top of the 5th aided in part by two errors from Islander shortstop Cory Ege. With the score at 7-6, the Islanders put the game out of reach as they scored two runs in the bottom of the 7th to make the final score 9-6.
In the second game, it was the Islanders that scored first by plating two runs in the bottom of the second. Again, the Panthers showed great resilience by tying the score at two in the next half inning, keyed by an RBI single by Giovanni Angel.
The next inning, Prairie View took a 4-2 lead on a home run by Evan Richard. However, the Islanders tied the score in the bottom of the same inning by scoring two runs of their own.
The Islanders took control of the game in the bottom of the sixth by scoring four runs, capped by a two-run-single by Trey Hernandez. The Panthers tried to start another rally but the offense could only muster one ninth inning run, driven in by Andre Oliver.
Although the Panthers were swept in the doubleheader, they showed good resistance and comeback ability against a quality Islander team. The Panthers showed some qualities that indicate the potential to return to prior SWAC greatness in 2010 under first year coach Waskyla Cullivan after a down year in 2009.