BATON ROUGE, La. – Prairie View spotted Texas Southern a 4-run lead and then made a furious comeback that ended in an 8-5 victory and a berth into Sunday’s championship game vs. Mississippi Valley State.
The Panthers scored 5 runs in the 3rd to take the lead. The big blow in the inning was a bases loaded double by Colby Hines. The ball was misplayed in left field and all three runs scored to give PV a 5-4 lead.
TSU tied it with an unearned run in the top of the 4th on a 2-out RBI double by Lacy Jackson.
Brett Valley’s 2-run single in the 6th gave Prairie View the lead for good and secured a trip to the title game.
Steven Lunsford took the mound after starter Sean Hollis gave up 4 runs and 7 hits in 2.1 innings. Lunsford closed out the game, giving up 4 hits and an unearned run.
Denzel Pipkin took the loss in relief for Texas Southern.
Delta Devils Clinch Spot In Final With Win Over Southern
Mississippi Valley State’s magical run through the 2012 SWAC Baseball Tournament kept rolling Friday as the Delta Devils eliminated Southern 2-1 and clinched a berth in Sunday’s championship game.
The Delta Devils rode the left arm of Trey Lacy for 7.0 innings of 2-hit baseball against the Jaguars on their home field. Lacy walked 2 and struck out 3 earning the victory. Christopher Broadway worked the final 2.0 innings and recorded the save for MVSU.
MVSU scored a lone run in the 1st inning and another that proved to be the difference in the 5th when Edmund Cheatham scored on a wild pitch after doubling and stealing third base.
Brian Foster went the distance on the mound for the Jaguars and gave up just 4 hits, but walked 7 batters.
Valley’s improbable run in the tournament started Wednesday with a win comeback win over Southern, the West’s top seed. MVSU defeated Alcorn State 7-6 in 12 innings on Thursday. The Delta Devils are the No. 4 seed from the East and finished 10-14 in divisional league play.
Prairie View and Mississippi Valley State will meet at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday for the SWAC title. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU tape delayed on Monday at 7 p.m. The on-line version will be carried live on ESPN3.com.
Fans can listed to the game on-line on SWAC.org. The live broadcast begins at 12:35 on Sunday.