Box Score AIKEN, S.C.--Andy Reichard tossed 7.0 shutout innings while the Bobcat offense pounded out 18 hits as 11th-ranked Georgia College & State (40-11, 21-6 PBC) swept their Peach Belt Conference baseball series with #27 USC Aiken (32-18, 14-13 PBC) with a 13-6 win on Sunday afternoon at Roberto Hernandez Stadium. The Pacers' six-run rally over the final two innings was not enough against the league-leading Bobcats before 1,033 fans on "Pack-the-Park" day.
Eight of nine PBC series for USC Aiken this year have been sweeps, winning four and losing four, but after opening 11-1 in conference play, a 3-12 record since has the Pacers fighting for a top-six finish and a spot in the 2007 PBC Tournament in Spartanburg, S.C.
Reichard (4-1), throwing consistently in the lower 90's all afternoon, allowed just two hits and one walk, striking out six, and notching the win on 92 pitches. Following a four-pitch walk to
Ben Tankersley in the third inning, Reichard retired the next 11 batters he faced until
Ken Raborn's lead-off single to center field in the seventh.
Raborn was the lone Pacer hit with a multiple hit day going 2-for-5. Tankersley finished 1-for-2 with two walks, two runs scored, and an RBI.
Leading 2-0 in the fourth, Chandler Snell laid a perfect safety squeeze bunt down the first base line to score Daniel Heflin. Justin Mills stepped in and slapped a two-out single back up the middle plating Tripp Burt to make it 4-0.
Mills had his second-consecutive four-hit game, finishing 4-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored. Heflin added a 2-for-4 day.
Mills doubled to center field with two outs in the sixth, bringing around Snell and Burt, increasing the margin to 6-0. A three-run blast over the right center field wall in the eighth by Pete Paris blew the game open 10-0. Paris went 3-for-6 with four RBI and two runs scored. The top four hitters for GCSU were 12-for-23 with nine RBI and six runs scored.
The Pacers got on the board in the eighth with an RBI single up the middle off the bat of Tankersley, plating
Darryl Pui, avoiding the team's first shutout in conference play since May 12, 2005. Pui led off the inning with a double down the left field line to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.
In the bottom of the ninth,
Chad Jacobsen (9) belted a bases loaded, 3-2 pitch over the wall in center field for a grand slam, setting the final margin at 13-6.
Jon Paul (6-6) worked 5.2 innings giving up six runs, five earned, on nine hits and three walks, fanning two in the loss for the Pacers. It was the final home appearance for the four-year Pacer pitcher.
USC Aiken will host Pfeiffer for a two-game mid-week set beginning on Tuesday, April 24 at 6:30 PM at Roberto Hernandez Stadium. GCSU returns home to Milledgeville, Ga. to host Clark Atlanta, also on Tuesday at 4:00 PM.
#11 GCSU.................011 202 133 - 13 18 3
#27 USC Aiken........000 000 024 - 6 6 2
E - Shaughnessy(3); Snell 2(12); Raborn(16); Paul(2). DP - Pacers 1. LOB – Bobcats 9; Pacers 8. 2B - Mills 2(17); Janofsky(9); Pui(17). HR - Paris(5); Jacobsen(9). SH - Snell(4); Tankersley(15). SF - Janofsky(4). SB - Mills(28); Heflin(2).
