Box Score AIKEN, S.C. -  The No. 21 USC Aiken baseball team picked up a solid win over the Trojans of Anderson University 9-0 Wednesday afternoon at Roberto Hernandez Stadium in a game that saw five Pacers score and nine get at least one hit.
The win improves the Pacers to 3-5 on the 2010 campaign, while Anderson drops to 6-4.
Anderson's lone hit in the game came in the top of the second inning when Blake May singled to shortstop Stephen Carmon (Camden, S.C./Camden) to reach first base.
In the bottom of the second, the Pacers got things going offensively when local product Jowan Gray (Aiken, S.C./South Aiken) singled to right field to get on base. He advanced to second when senior Pacer backstop Gary Asbill (Batesburg, S.C./Batesburg-Leesville) hit a well-placed ball to the second baseman.
Reigning PBC Freshman of the Year Stephen Carmon (Camden, S.C./Camden) then stepped to the plate and brought Gray across the dish and advanced Asbill to second base with a hit to the right fielder to earn the RBI.  Going back to the top of the order David Vitko (Columbiana, Ohio, Youngstown) then singled to the other side of the field to score Asbill, putting the Pacers up 2-0 and earning the RBI.
In the third inning, the Pacers kept striking hard with the bats.  Noah Wethington (Rock Island, Ill./Blackhawk) reached base by singling to deep left center field and advanced into scoring position when Gray was hit by a wild pitch.  Asbill then grounded out on a short ball to third advancing Wethington to third base and Gray to second.  Carmon then walked loading the bases for David Vitko.  Vitko continued to do his part for the Pacers by singling to deep center field scoring both Wethington and Gray to extend USC Aiken's lead 4-0.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Gary Asbill reached base when he was beamed by Trojan hurler Jacob Long and then showed his speed on the bases by stealing second base.  Vitko then singled once more to center field to score Asbill.
Pacer centerfielder Bill Rice (Sewell, N.J./Gloucester Community College) stepped up big with a hard-hit triple to deep center field to score Vitko and earn him the RBI.  After Travis Howard (Bonneau, S.C./USC Salkehatchie) took first base by being walked, Nick Aranas (Lexington, S.C./Lexington) brought Rice home with a single up the right foul line putting the Pacers up 7-0.
The bottom of the sixth inning started off very similar to the fifth when the new pitcher for Anderson Justin Rogers hit Gray to place him on base.  Gary Asbill followed and reached base on an fielding error by Anderson shortstop Thomas Padro, and then was able to make it to second base when Padro overthrew his first baseman helping Gray to also advanced to third on the play.  Just a few pitches later, Gray scored off a passed ball by Anderson backstop Brett Scarberry and Asbill advanced to third.  Asbill crossed the dish when Carmon hit a sacrifice fly out to center field earning the RBI and putting the Pacers up for good at 9-0.
In total Anderson used five different pitchers in the loss to share in giving up nine runs, seven of which were earned, and 14 hits. Vitko went 3-for-5 at the plate with 4 RBIs on the afternoon and Asbill and Gray each had three runs to lead the Pacers in scoring.
Right-handed pitcher David Richardson was credited with the loss for the Trojans.  He drops to 0-1 on the 2010 season.
Right-handed senior Steven Owens (Sykesville, Md./Richmond) earned the win on the mound for the Pacers in six full innings of work giving up just one hit and fanning five batters.  Owens improves to 1-1 on the season with the win.
The Pacers will close out the week by hosting PBC foe Georgia Southwestern.  The Hurricanes will blow into town for a three game weekend series starting with a 4 p.m. game on Friday, Feb. 19.  The Pacers and Hurricanes will then close out the series with a pair of 1 p.m. games on Saturday, Feb. 20 and Sunday, Feb. 21.