Box Score SPARTANBURG, S.C.--It was 15 years ago, in the inaugural Peach Belt Conference Baseball Tournament that Armstrong Atlantic State made their only previous appearance in the championship game. And in that contest held in Savannah, Ga., USC Aiken won their first of two-straight tournament titles with a 5-2 victory over the Pirates. On Sunday evening, with both teams already having played that day, it was #25 AASU (39-21) earning the win over USC Aiken (38-22), ironically by that same count of 5-2, to earn their first ever PBC Baseball Tournament Championship. 

Fifth-seeded Armstrong Atlantic State becomes the lowest seeded team to bring home the hardware. USCA falls to 2-1 in the championship game after making their first appearance since 1993. The Pirates earn the league's automatic berth into the NCAA South Atlantic Regional while the Pacers will now await the selection committee's decision due out Monday morning to see if their postseason push was enough. 

"It was a long day," said Armstrong Atlantic State head coach Joe Roberts. "It started last night, but we hung in there. We had adversity around midnight and we had adversity around noon. But we hung in there and I am happy for our guys."

The story of the game was Pirate pitcher Blake Culberson. The freshman weekday starter for AASU tossed a complete game, just the second of the PBC Tournament. Culberson (4-2) scattered seven hits and one walk, allowing two runs, one earned, and striking out five in 9.0 innings of work. 

"I was a little nervous," said Culberson. "As soon as we got out there and got some outs, I was okay. We made some good plays on defense." 

Not to be overshadowed was the gutty performance of the Pacers' freshman hurler, Edwin Keeler. In his first action of the postseason, Keeler (2-2) kept USCA in it, allowing five runs, but only two were earned, on nine hits and one walk, striking out three in 5.2 innings. 

"There were two freshmen out there starting the championship game," said USC Aiken head coach Kenny Thomas. "Our guy pitched extremely well. Their guy pitched well, extremely well. He kept us off balance. They got a couple of hits when they needed to and we didn't. We played hard. Our seniors played their hearts out and I could not be more proud of them." 

Earlier in the day, the same two teams combined for 21 runs and 36 hits in an 11-10 win or USC Aiken. Unfortunately for the Pacers, their offense never quite got untracked in round two. 

Trailing 1-0 in the top of the third, Marc Joehnk led off the inning with a single to left field that was misplayed, allowing the senior shortstop to end up on third base. He would score on a wild pitch to tie the game. 

Armstrong Atlantic State answered with one in the fourth and one in the fifth to grab a 3-1 advantage. But it was a two-run sixth inning that really created the necessary space for the Pirates as Tyler Evans smacked an RBI single to center field and Josh Wilson tripled home Evans with a two-out RBI. 

Wilson finished 3-for-3 and was named the tournament Most Valuable Player. Joey Davis went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Marc Noble chipped in a 3-for-4 performance. 

Entering the top of the ninth facing a 5-1 deficit, senior catcher Josh Eachues blasted a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right for his first home run of the season. Following a one-out single by Zach Cooper, Joehnk grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game. Eachues and Ken Raborn were the lone Pacers with multiple-hit games, each going 2-for-4. 

Eachues earned All-Tournament honors hitting .474 and slugging .737 for the five games, driving in a team-best eight RBI. Sophomore Ken Raborn also received a spot on the All-Tournament team after batting .500 and slugging .800 with two doubles, two triples, a team-high six runs scored, and five RBI. Senior pitcher Gary Lee was the third Pacer named All-Tournament. He was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 9.0 innings pitched, holding opponents to a .167 batting average against. 

USC Aiken...........001 000 001 - 2 7 4
#25 AASU.............010 112 00x - 5 11 2

E - Raborn(19); Jacobsen 2(10); Eachues(6); E. Hudson; Dallas. DP - Pacers 2; Pirates 1. LOB - Pacers 6; Pirates 9. 3B - Wilson. HR - Eachues(1). HBP - E. Hudson. SH - Hotzak. SF - Marek. SB - Wilson; Dallas.