The SWAC Champion Prairie View A&M University softball team is headed to the NCAA Tournament and will compete in the Texas A&M regional.
The Lady Panthers will face Texas A&M Friday at 6 p.m. in College Station on ESPN3. The other teams in the regional are McNeese and Baylor, who will open the regional in a 3:30 p.m. game.
PVAMU defied the odds, winning six consecutive elimination games in three days, including three on Saturday, to win the SWAC Softball Championship at Alabama State.
After losing the opening game on Wednesday, the Lady Panthers began moving through the loser’s bracket to championship glory. PVAMU defeated Miss. Valley State 4-3 on Thursday morning to start the streak. Prairie View A&M eliminated Alabama A&M 11-2 in five innings Friday morning and eliminated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 5-0 Friday afternoon.
Saturday, PVAMU won three games on the final day of the tournament. The Lady Panthers opened the day with a 4-3 win in the semifinals over archrival and 2017 SWAC Champion Texas Southern to eliminate TSU and advance to the championship round.
Prairie View A&M then needed to defeat host school and 2016 SWAC Champion Alabama State twice, as the Lady Hornets were undefeated in the double-elimination tournament on their home diamond.
PVAMU beat Alabama State 5-3 in championship game one before winning 4-3 in the winner-take-all finale to bring home the title.
Laurisa Hernandez earned SWAC Tournament MVP honors after going 10-for-21 at the plate with 10 RBI. She was joined on the all-tournament team by Crystal Castillo, Destinee Williams, and Kyler Ward-Flowers.
Courtesy: PVAMU Athletics
