Box Score SPARTANBURG, S.C.--Holding an 11-2 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, sixth-seeded USC Aiken (36-20) had to hang on for dear life in upsetting top-seeded and fifth-ranked Georgia College & State (44-13) 11-10 on Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the 2007 Peach Belt Conference Baseball Tournament. The Bobcats plated eight runs in their final at bat to pull within one before
Adam Lovelace got Chandler Snell to fly out to left field to end the game.
The Pacers inherit a nice draw for the remainder of the tournament essentially taking over as the "number one" seed. USCA will face the loser of #3 Francis Marion and #4 USC Upstate on Friday at 3:00 PM. GCSU falls into the losers' bracket and will square off against the loser of #2 Columbus State and #5 Armstrong Atlantic State in an elimination game at 11:00 AM tomorrow.
All nine Pacers had at least one hit as USC Aiken's highly-regarded offense equaled their third highest scoring output against a PBC opponent this season. Conversely, the unorthodox strategy of not using a "starting pitcher" kept the Bobcats at bay for much of the contest.
"The pitchers came in and mixed things up," said GCSU head coach Chris Calciano. "We weren't able to get a rhythm going at the plate."
USC Aiken trotted out eight different pitchers with no one tossing more than 2.0 innings of work.
Scoreless through two innings, the Pacers erupted for five runs on five hits keyed by
Darryl Pui's two-run homer to left center, his first long ball of the year.
Matt Spivey initiated the scoring with a one out double down the left field line plating
Zach Cooper. Spivey had one double in 49 games this season, but smacked two on the afternoon. After Pui's blast made it 3-0,
Josh Eachues delivered a two-out double to left field scoring
Chris Sheehan and
Chad Jacobsen to make it 5-0.
Jacobsen, Sheehan, Cooper, Spivey, and
Marc Joehnk each had two hits for USC Aiken.
The Pacers pushed the advantage to 7-0 in the top of the seventh on Sheehan's one out solo shot over the right field wall. It is the senior slugger's league-leading 13th home run of the season.
Ken Raborn and Jacobsen tacked on RBI doubles in the eighth to balloon the margin to 10-0 in what was seemingly a rout.
After holding the Bobcats scoreless with just five hits through seven innings, GCSU got on the board in the eighth with RBI singles by Casey Cullen and Daniel Heflin. But a double play capped off by Cullen getting gunned down at the plate ended the threat.
Leading 11-2 in the bottom of the ninth, the Pacers watched their sizable lead slowly evaporate. Five hits, three free passes, and two errors led to an 11-8 game with the bases loaded and Rich Janofsky at the plate. A pair of RBI groundouts trimmed the deficit to 11-10, but also reduced GCSU to their final out.
After pinch runner Hans Stancil stole second base, Lovelace got Snell to fly out to left to end the rally and the game.
"It got ugly in the last inning," said USCA head coach
Kenny Thomas. "GCSU is a good ball club and they battled hard to the end. We just couldn't get that first out in the inning. Once we got that first out, we were more at ease."
Bobcat ace and All-Conference hurler Michael Antonini (7-5) was chased after 2.2 innings, allowing five earned runs on five hits and two walks, striking out one.
Jon Paul (7-7), the Pacers' all-time NCAA wins leader, notched his 22nd career victory with 2.0 innings of scoreless relief. Lovelace (1) picked up his first save after allowing the one run in the ninth.
USC Aiken.........005 100 131 - 11 14 2
#5 GCSU.............000 000 028 - 10 12 0
E - Pui(2); Joehnk(17). DP - Pacers 2. LOB - Pacers 9; Bobcats 8. 2B - Raborn(14); Jacobsen(24); Eachues(10); Spivey 2(3). HR - Pui(1); Sheehan(13). HBP - Paris 2; Shaughnessy. SH - Joehnk(14). CS - Eachues(7).
