Box Score SPARTANBURG, S.C.--It may have taken two days to play out, but
Josh Eachues' RBI singles in the bottom of the eighth and the 12th innings powered USC Aiken (38-21) to a dramatic 11-10 win over #25 Armstrong Atlantic State (37-21) on Sunday afternoon in the semifinal round of the 2007 Peach Belt Conference Baseball Tournament at Harley Park. It will mark USCA's first PBC Tournament Championship appearance since 1993. They are 2-0 all-time in the final game.
Previously unbeaten Armstrong Atlantic State survived an elimination game with #15 Columbus State following their game with USCA, and will now meet the Pacers for the PBC Tournament Championship at 5:15 PM. AASU is making the program's second appearance in the final game, having lost their only other match-up, ironically, to USC Aiken 5-2 in the inaugural 1992 PBC Tournament in Savannah, Ga.
Tied at 2-2 after three innings, AASU got their offense rolling with four runs in the top of the fourth keyed by a Sean Hotzak bases-loaded single to left field emptying the bases.
Tacking on two more in the fifth, the Pirates found themselves in front 8-3 as USC Aiken came to the plate in the home half of the fifth.
Ken Raborn doubled home
Darryl Pui and
Chris Sheehan singled to center field to score Raborn as the Pacers opened the inning with five-straight hits, loading the bases with no body out and trimming the deficit to 8-5.
Officials, however, halted play and ultimately suspended the game due to heavy fog and reduced visibility.
When play resumed at 11:00 AM on Sunday morning, USCA cashed in three more runs to knot the game up at 8-8 on
Marc Joehnk's RBI fielder's choice.
Josh Wilson seized momentum, and the lead, back for the Pirates in the seventh inning with a two-run homer to left field, putting AASU on top 10-8. Wilson finished 4-for-7 with six RBI and two runs scored.
But Eachues had the answer in the eighth. With two outs, Jacobsen and
Chris Sheehan each singled and then advanced on a wild pitch. Facing a 1-0 count from Austin Ducey, Eachues slapped a single to left field, driving in Jacobsen and Sheehan to tie the game at 10-10. It marked the third time in the game USC Aiken rallied to knot things up.
Eachues finished 4-for-6 with three RBI and two runs scored. Sheehan added a four-hit game while Raborn was 2-for-5 with a double and a triple and
Darryl Pui tacked on a 3-for-7 performance. Every Pacer in the starting line-up had a hit and the top seven batters posted at least two hits. The offensive explosion of 21 hits was the most this season for USC Aiken.
Not to be lost in all of the offense was the tremendous performance of reliever
Gary Lee (3-3). The Pacers' senior closer for much of the season, came on in the eighth inning and tossed 5.0 innings of scoreless, two-hit baseball, earning his second win in as many days.
AASU elected to intentionally walk Jacobsen and Sheehan following a lead-off hit by Pui and a Raborn sacrifice bunt, setting up bases loaded and one out for Eachues. The senior catcher took the 1-0 pitch from Nate Herder to left field for the walk-off, RBI single.
Herder (3-4) suffered the loss allowing one earned run on three hits and four walks in 3.1 innings pitched.
Sixth-seeded USC Aiken will try and become the lowest seed to ever win the PBC Tournament when they take the field Sunday evening. Only Columbus State, a seven seed in 1998, was a lower season to even reach the final game, falling to Kennesaw State 12-2.
#25 AASU...........101 420 200 000 - 10 15 0
USC Aiken.........110 150 020 001 - 11 21 2
Note: 1 out, 3 runners LOB when the game ended.
E - Tankersley(2); Joehnk(20). DP - Pirates 2. LOB - Pirates 14; Pacers 14. 2B - Wilson; Pui(19); Raborn(15); Tankersley(11). 3B - Raborn(2). HR - Wilson. HBP - Evans 2; Cail; Dallas. SH - Hotzak; Raborn 2(2); Cooper(9); Joehnk(16). SF - Jacobsen(8); Tankersley(6); Joehnk(1). SB - Noble.
