Opening weekend of baseball has a certain feel to it, especially for the 2021 Southwestern Athletic Conference defending Western Division Champs the Prairie View A&M Panthers, as they will get into the swing of things when they open at the 2022 Andre Dawson Classic in New Orleans, La.
This will be the seventh season for PVAMU to participate in this annual event. The Andre Dawson Classic tournament launched in 2008 by MLB to highlight HBCU’s and their baseball programs. This is the eighth season the games are being held in New Orleans.
The Panthers will face their first test of year when they open the season Friday, February 18 against new comer to the SWAC Florida A&M at 3 p.m. at the New Orleans MLB Youth Academy, Saturday against UAPB at the University of New Orleans for a 1 p.m. first pitch and Sunday at 12 p.m. versus Jackson State to be played also at New Orleans MLBYA.
Prairie View A&M head Baseball coach Auntwan Riggins enters his seventh season at the helm of the Panthers, having taken the squad to the SWAC tournament for the last five seasons. The Panthers finished the 2021 season with a 14-18 overall record and 12-7 in SWAC play. Riggins will be joined this season by assistant coaches Anthony “Happy” Macon (in his second year with the staff), Brian White (seventh year), Jackson Hydron (student assistant) and Kyle Smith (graduate assistant).
PVAMU will enter this weekend’s contest with 20 returning lettermen, including seven position starters and 16 pitchers. Headlining the veteran squad is graduate student Demarie’ Smith and sophomore right-handed pitcher Victor Mendoza.
Smith was tabbed as a SWAC postseason second team outfielder, while sophomore Mendoza also received second team nods as a pitcher.
The Pineland, Texas native, Smith finished the 2021 season as one of the Panthers ranked among the team’s best batters, hitting .314 with 27 hits and 13 runs scored. He drove in 16 RBI, while posting a .956 fielding percentage in the outfield.
Mendoza earned three wins in 2021, recording a 2.53 ERA while pitching 46.1 innings on the bump for the Panthers. He allowed 37 hits, 26 runs and 21 walks, and threw 40 strikes in eight appearances for six starts. The Austin, Texas native pitched his best game with 11 strike outs in the contest against Texas Southern.
The Panthers received three first place votes and were picked to finish third in the division behind Southern and Grambling ahead of Texas Southern, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Alcorn State.