Box Score SPARTANBURG, S.C.--
Ken Raborn's triple in the bottom of the eighth inning drove in
Darryl Pui with the game winner as USC Aiken (37-21) rallied to knock-off 22nd ranked Francis Marion (36-18) 7-5 in an elimination game on Saturday afternoon at the 2007 Peach Belt Conference Tournament at Harley Park. The Pacers end the tournament for the third-seeded Patriots while USCA moves on to tonight's semifinal round versus #25 Armstrong Atlantic State at 7:00 PM.
"It was a hard fought baseball game," said USC Aiken head coach
Kenny Thomas. "Each inning was a new battle. Francis Marion played real hard.
Jon Paul kept us in the game and we had a bunch of guys that stepped up for us."
After two games of "pitching by committee", the Pacers went with the more traditional route on Saturday as back-to-back-to-back games began to take its toll on depth.
Scott Wandless got the start, but was pulled with one out in the third inning. Paul came on to toss 5.1 innings of relief, holding the Patriots to one run on four hits and two walks, allowing the Pacers to rally.
Trailing 5-2 entering the bottom of the sixth, USC Aiken broke out for three runs on a pair of hits and one Francis Marion error.
Ben Tankersley drew a walk to lead off the inning and then
Zach Cooper doubled him home to make it 5-3.
Marc Joehnk followed with an RBI single to center field and Raborn tacked on a sacrifice fly as the Pacers pulled even at 5-5.
Tankersley went 2-for-3 while Raborn was a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI and three runs scored.
Josh Eachues chipped in a pair of RBI.
Following Raborn's RBI triple in the eighth,
Chad Jacobsen doubled down the left field line, scoring Raborn with an insurance run. For Jacobsen, it was his 25th two-bagger of the season, breaking the single season school record previously held by Bradley Key and
Robert Davis.
Gary Lee (2-3) retired four of five batters he faced over 1.1 innings of relief to notch the win.
Zach Farry (4-2) suffered the loss after allowing two earned runs on four hits and one walk in 3.0 innings of work.
"USC Aiken just wanted it a little more than us today," said Francis Marion head coach Art Inabinet. "It was back and forth. They got momentum and we never got it back."
Nick Stewart and Greg Phelps each had two hits for Francis Marion.
After sweeping Francis Marion in the regular season in Florence, S.C., the Pacers are now 4-0 against the Patriots this season and have two of their last three meetings between the two programs in postseason play.
#22 Francis Marion............013 001 000 - 5 10 2
USC Aiken...........................101 003 02x - 7 11 4
E - Norfleet; Phelps; Raborn 2(18); Joehnk 2(19). DP - Patriots 1; Pacers 1. LOB - Patriots 13; Pacers 11. 2B - Norfleet; Jacobsen(25); Cooper(13). 3B - Raborn(1). HR - Greene. HBP - Jacobsen; Sheehan. SH - Kennamer; Greene 2; Spivey(8). SF - Howes; Raborn(2); Eachues(3). SB - Pui(19). CS - Pui(7).
