LITTLE ROCK — Prairie View A&M is quite familiar with the underdog role.
The Panthers are firmly entrenched there as the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Houston Regional, where they will play top-seeded Rice at 6 p.m. Friday at Reckling Park. Prairie View (28-23) earned an automatic bid after winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament with a 7-4 victory against Mississippi Valley State.
It is Prairie View’s third postseason appearance and first since 2007. Rice, the 2003 national champions, has made 18 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and has reached the College World Series seven times since 1997.
No one is penciling in Prairie View as the favorite in Friday’s game or the regional, but the Panthers have some familiarity with the Owls (40-17), whom Prairie View has faced in the first round of its two previous regional appearances. In the 2006 regional, the Panthers took a 5-1 lead against Rice before the Owls rallied to tie in the eighth and win in the ninth.
“We believe we can win,” Prairie View Coach Waskyla Cullivan said. “That’s half of the battle. Right now, though, it’s def initely David vs. Goliath.”
Rice Coach Wayne Graham said the Owls won’t overlook the Panthers.
“They’re well-coached and a very scrappy team,” Graham said. “The pitcher they are going to pitch against us is a good one. We have our work cut out for us.”
The Panthers entered the SWAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed from the West Divisionafter finishing one game behind Southern. Prairie View, which was 12-35 in 2010 before winning 25 games last season, had postseason hopes this season from opening day.
“We knew all along,” Cullivan said. “We knew we had the pitching depth to win conference. The goal at Prairie View every year is to win conference in the regular season and the tournament.”
Cullivan said the regional is a great opportunity for his program to make a statement. Chances for upsets are friendlier in baseball, Cullivan said, than in more physically dependent sports such as football or basketball.
“We’re very confident,” Cullivan said. “We know we’re the underdog coming in, but there’s no pressure on us. Anybody can be beaten on any given day.”
For the Panthers to have success against Rice and in the remainder of the regional, they will have to rely on their pitching depth and overall team speed. Prairie View hit only eight home runs this year in 51 games, so it won’t overpower anyone.
Cullivan plans to start left hander Derrick Mitchell (6-4, 3.09 ERA) against Rice. Mitchell throws in the mid-80s but has good off-speed pitches and control, and the Panthers have a solid reliever in Daniel Castillo (5-0, 1.83, 5 saves).
“He pitches backward,” Cullivan said of Mitchell. “You don’t know what kind of velocity will come out on any pitch. He gives us a chance to win every day.
“We don’t have any guy throwing 91, 92, 93 mph on our staff. We keep teams off balance.”
Offensively, the Panthers rely on bunting, hitting-andrunning and aggressive base running. Prairie View doesn’t steal a lot of bases, but second baseman Andre Oliver is 18 for 18 and shortstop JamesFontenot is 13 of 15 in steal attempts.
“We try to manufacture one-run innings,” Cullivan said. “We use our team speed to go from first to third and second to home. Then we rely on our pitching and defense.”At a glancePRAIRIE VIEW A&MLOCATION Houston CONFERENCE Southwestern Athletic NICKNAME Panthers 2012 RECORD 28-23 COACH Waskyla Cullivan (86-104 in fourth season at Prairie View) KEY PLAYERS LHP Derrick Mitchell (6-4, 3.09 ERA), RHP Daniel Castillo (5-0, 1.81 ERA, 6 saves), 1B DominiqHarris (.314, 31 RBI), 2B Andre Oliver (.281, 18-18 stolen bases), C Evan Richard (.257, 31 runs, 27 RBI, 42 walks) TEAM BATTING AVERAGE .263 TEAM ERA 4.71 LAST NCAA APPEARANCE 2007 NOTEWORTHY Richard was named MVP of the SWAC Tournament.
Sports, Pages 19 on 05/31/2012