PRIARIE VIEW A&M TAKES TWO OF THREE FROM JAGUARS :: Panthers three hit Jags to take a 6-0 Saturday victory to earn series win

	Darren Clark had thrr home runs in Prairie View series to leads the jags hitting attack.

April 30, 2006

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas -- Matthew Chase threw a complete-game, three-hit shutout to lift Prairie View to a 6-0 win over Southern on Saturday and clinch the Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball title.

Chase allowed leadoff doubles to Southern's Gerard Gause and Kevin Cox, but the Jaguars weren't able to bring them around.

"He (Chase) did a real good job," Southern coach Roger Cador said. "We only mounted a couple of threats."

Southern needed to win two of three games in the series to clinch the SWAC West title. The two teams split games on Friday, setting up Saturday's finale.

Texas Southern (19-24, 15-8) split games with Grambling on Saturday, winning the first game 5-1 and losing the second game 6-4. The two teams complete their series with a single game today.

A TSU win would tie it with Southern for second place in the SWAC West and give it the second seed in the SWAC tournament by virtue of a tie-breaker.

It marks the first time Southern hasn't shared at least a share of the SWAC West title.

"People expect us to always finish first, but it's getting tougher," said Cador, whose teams have won eight of the last 10 SWAC titles.

While Southern (23-18, 16-8) wasn't able to capitalize on its opportunities, Prairie View (29-18, 17-7) was. The Panthers tallied nine hits, but also had five sacrifice hits, a sacrifice fly and three stolen bases.

"Every time they had an opportunity, they capitalized on it," Cador said. "They did all the little things. They bunted over and then would hit a sacrifice fly. Our catchers missed a couple of balls. They applied pressure all day."

The Panthers got on the board in the bottom of the first on Arthur Christal's RBI single and upped the lead to 2-0 in the second on Roshard Shorter's solo home run.

Prairie View kept the pressure on with a single run in the third on a Christal sacrifice fly. Wilford White's RBI double in the fourth made it 4-0. The Panthers added insurance runs in the sixth and eighth innings.

Southern continued to struggle with injuries Saturday. Second baseman Scott Williamson missed the game with a back injury suffered Friday and shortstop Brandon Revis played despite an eye injury suffered in batting practice Friday.

The Jaguars now prepare for the SWAC Tournament starting May 18 at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss. SU visits Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday and plays LSU-Eunice this weekend.

"We just have to go in and readjust, get some people healthy," Cador said. "We have 17 days until the conference tournament. We have to put together four wins."