Box Score KINSTON, N.C.--Jayson Bennett and Matt Howard limited #27 USC Aiken (39-23) to one run on seven hits as the ninth-ranked Georgia College & State University Bobcats (46-14) claimed a 3-1 win over the Pacers in a second round, winners' bracket game at the 2007 NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional on Friday evening at Grainger Stadium. Senior lefthander Jon Paul tossed a superb 8.1 innings for USCA, but the timely hit eluded the fifth-seeded Pacers.

USC Aiken, now 0-2 all-time versus GCSU in the NCAA Tournament, played their 10th-straight game against a team ranked in the top 30. The Pacers will face #14 Columbus State in an elimination game tomorrow at 3:00 PM. USCA won the opening round match-up between the two programs 6-1 on Thursday. GCSU will take on top-seeded Mount Olive, also tomorrow, at 11:00 AM. 

"It was a great pitched game all the way around. All four guys that took the mound pitched extremely well," said USC Aiken head coach Kenny Thomas. "We just couldn't get a hit at the right time. The play that (GCSU right fielder) Justin Mills made in the eighth was huge. That play really was the hinging point that could have changed the game." 

In possibly his final performance as a Pacer, Paul (7-8) nearly threw his seventh complete game of the season, tossing 127 pitches over 8.1 innings in the hard-luck loss. USCA's all-time wins leader scattered 12 hits, five walks, and three hit batters to hold the Bobcats to three runs, striking out two. 

"I just wanted to get in there and put as many zeros on the scoreboard as I could," said Paul, logging 17.1 innings of work in four appearances over the last eight days. "My command was just a little off and my walks and hit batters were unusual tonight, but I thought I battled hard and got through some tough spots to keep us in it."

Scoreless through three, GCSU got the game's first tally with a bases loaded single to right field by Chandler Snell. Brian Shaughnessy, however, was gunned out at the plate by Darryl Pui, trying to second from second base. Zach Cooper would later throw out Casey Cullen from center field and also double off a runner at second as the Pacer outfield accounted for three assists on the night. 

Leading 1-0, Snell slapped a two-out double down the left field line to plate Shaughnessy to increase the lead to 2-0 in the sixth. The freshman shortstop finished 2-for-3 with two of the team's three RBI. 

Cooper drew a lead-off walk to open the bottom of the seventh, advancing to second on a wild pitch, and scoring with two outs on Pui's single down the right field line, making it a 2-1 game. 

Pui finished 2-for-5 while Chris Sheehan also added two hits on the night. Cooper finished 1-for-2 but also walked and was hit by a pitch. 

With two outs in the eighth and Sheehan at second base, Ben Tankersley sliced a ball heading for the right field line, only to see a spectacular catch made by Mills, the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year, preventing the tying run from scoring. 

After the Bobcats tacked on an insurance run in the ninth to lead 3-1, the Pacers got two on with two out, but Ken Raborn grounded out to shortstop to end the game. 

Bennett (6-3) tossed a four-hitter through 6.1 innings holding the Pacers to one run with three walks, striking out eight. Matt Howard (5) worked the final 2.2 scoreless innings for the save. 

"The biggest thing was that our starting pitching was outstanding," said GCSU head coach Chris Calciano. "Bennett was dominant and got us through six innings, which was big. From there we turned it over to our bullpen. We feel like our bullpen is one of the tops in the country and Matt Howard came through for us again."
Pete Paris, Cullen, and Shaughnessy each finished 2-for-4 for the Bobcats.

#9 GCSU........................000 101 001 - 3 12 0
#27 USC Aiken.............000 000 100 - 1 7 0

DP - Pacers 2. LOB - Bobcats 13; Pacers 10. 2B - Shaughnessy; Snell; Cooper(14). HBP - Anderson; Heflin 2; Cooper. SH - Snell; Stancil; Joehnk(17). SB - Janofsky.