HOUSTON – HCU baseball earned a 7-2 win over Prairie View A&M on Wednesday night in non-conference play at Husky Field, powered by a key three-run fourth inning and steady offensive production.

Ayden Slott led the charge with three RBI, including a two-run home run, and scored twice while going 2-for-3 at the plate. Tevis Payne contributed a pair of doubles, an RBI, and solid defense behind the plate with two runners caught stealing. Kenneth Dutka added two runs and two stolen bases while Parker Edwards registered his fifth multi-hit game of the season. On the mound, Kyler Mentzel picked up the win in relief, throwing two shutout innings with four strikeouts and just one hit allowed. As a staff, the Huskies (10-4) allowed just one extra-base hit while giving up two runs on eight hits.

The game started as a pitching duel, with both teams combining for just three singles across the first three frames. Mentzel struck out the side in the top of the fourth with the HCU offense coming alive in the bottom half of the inning. Edwards doubled with one out and, following a Katcher Halligan groundout, Payne came through with an RBI double to put the Huskies on the board. On the next pitch, Slott delivered his first homer of the season to left field to score Payne and give HCU a 3-0 lead.

The Huskies continued to build on their lead in the fifth inning with Dutka reaching on a hit by a pitch before stealing second.Two batters later he came around to score on a fielding error by the Panthers (4-14), extending the advantage to 4-0. Prairie View put some pressure on the Huskies in the sixth, stringing together back-to-back two-out singles, but a flyout to center ended their threat. HCU added another run in the bottom half when Payne doubled with one out, advanced to third on a balk, and scored on a Slott sacrifice fly to push the score to 5-0 through six.

The Panthers finally got on the board in the seventh with a solo home run from Michael Smith, cutting the HCU lead to 5-1. PVAMU had another baserunner reach on an error with two outs, but a fielder's choice to short quickly ended the inning. HCU responded, scoring for the fourth-consecutive inning. Dutka walked with one out, stole second and then moved up to third on a flyout. With two outs, Jack Walker drew a walk to put runners on the corners before Edwards singled through the left side to bring home Dutka and return the Huskies' lead to five runs.

The Huskies tacked on an insurance run in the eighth while the Panthers took advantage of a pair of wild pitches in the top of the ninth and an RBI single off the bat of Smith for the 7-2 final.

The Huskies will next compete in a weekend series against Rice, beginning Friday at Reckling Park. They will host a doubleheader on Saturday before concluding the series with a Sunday afternoon matchup back across town on the Rice campus.