Robertson Wins 500th Game, Deleon Strikes Out 10 In Win Over Prairie View A&M

TSU head coach Michael Robertson earned his 500^th-career win as the Tigers held off Prairie View A&M 8-4 at MacGregor Park on Friday afternoon.
 
Robertson, who picked up his first career win at PVAMU in 2003, started out the contest in style as the Tigers wasted no time in setting the tone.
 
Jordan Vidato opened the bottom of the first with a leadoff single and moved to third after CJ Castillo’s double. Daalen Adderley drove in both runners with a two-RBI single for the early 2-0 lead.
 
Roderick Coffee hit a one-out single in the second and advanced after Justin Blogg’s single. A PVAMU error loaded the bases which set up Vidato’s RBI single and Castillo’s sac fly for a 4-0 lead. One inning later in the third, Blogg was at work again as his RBI single scored Alexander Olivo, who reached on a single.
 
Olivo upped the lead to 6-0 with a homer in the fifth followed by Adderley’s two-run homer in the sixth to lead 8-0.
 
TSU starter Abraham Deleon exited the seventh after a solid outing and was replaced by Adolf Castillo. Castillo ran into some early trouble after a walk and a fielding error allowed PVAMU to cross home its first run on an RBI groundout. The Panthers added another run in the eighth to trail 8-2.
 
Carlos Marquez entered the ninth for the Tigers to close it out on the mound and the fans began to have flashbacks of last Friday’s ninth-inning contest against Southern. PVAMU loaded the bases with no outs before Marquez forced a double play. After scoring on a double play, the Panthers wouldn’t go away as a TSU error, walk and hit by pitch loaded the bases once again with the tying run at the plate. However, there would be no comeback as Marquez forced a flyout to end the game.
 
Blogg went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI while Vidato and Adderley both had two hits. Adderley also had four RBI. Deleon silenced the PVAMU offense with 10 strikeouts and only allowed two hits over seven innings.
 
The series resumes at 2 p.m. Saturday.