AIKEN, S.C. – Freshman pitcher India Kornegay broke a school record in just her fourth collegiate start to help the University of South Carolina Aiken softball team remain perfect at home as the Pacers swept their Peach Belt Conference opener with the Lander University Bearcats 5-0 and 4-3 at J.H. Satcher Field Tuesday afternoon.

The Pacers improve to 9-1 (2-0 PBC) after the pair of victories over the Bearcats while Lander falls to 9-5 (0-2 PBC).

Senior shortstop Lauren Locklear (Charleston, S.C./Wando) gave the Pacers a jump-start in the first game knocking a pair of two-run home runs in the first and third innings to put the Pacers up 4-0.

Kelley King (Chesterfield, S.C./Chesterfield) gave USC Aiken their final run in the bottom of the fifth inning when she hit a single to left field that scored Whitney Clary (Newberry, S.C./Newberry HS) from second base.

The PBC Freshman of the Week, Kornegay (Eufaula, Ala./Eufaula) recorded her fourth-straight win in the circle for the Pacers to improve to 4-0 for the season. In her seven innings of work, Kornegay struck out 16 batters to eclipse the previous school record of 15 most recently matched in 2006 by Stacie Oakley in a game against Mars Hill.

Amanda Hamby suffered her first loss of the season in game one for Lander to fall to 2-1 on the young season.

A slow and steady pace in the second game lifted the Pacers to their second victory of the afternoon as they garnered four hits over four innings to just edge ahead of the Bearcats for the 4-3 victory.

Down 2-1 heading into the bottom of the third inning, freshman Brittney Williamson (Lexington, S.C./White Knoll) knotted the score for USC Aiken when she sent a shallow ball to center field for a hit that would score Locklear from second base.

Lander was able to answer by squeezing a run across in the top of the fourth inning to edge ahead once more, but USC Aiken would not let that stand for long as the Pacers answered in the bottom of the inning with Brandy Bossle (North East, Md./Rising Sun) racing home from second base off a hit by Clary.

The Pacers pushed ahead by one run in the bottom of the fifth inning to squeeze out a narrow lead at 4-3 when King found the dish off a blooper by Nicole Borden (Jacksonville, Fla./Bolles School).

Lander tried to catch the Pacers sleeping in the infield with two outs in the top of the sixth with a runner steal as a distraction for number Morgan Robinson to steal home, but the veteran infield handled the situation beautifully as Locklear and Hillary Stewart (Blythewood, S.C./Blythewood) threw her out at home to end the inning and solidify the win.

Freshman Samantha Lemm (Berlin, N.J./Eastern) clinched her first win in the circle for the Pacers to start her career 1-0 before Kornegay came in for the final inning to record her first save of the season.

Hayley Leissner took the loss for Lander to move to 4-3 on the season.

Borden, Locklear and Kayla Denham (Palatka, Fla./Daytona State) led USC Aiken at the plate. Borden went 4-for-6 with a run and an RBI while Locklear and Denham both went 3-for-7 with Locklear recording three runs and four RBIs.

The Pacers will now go on a two-game road swing through the Tar Heel state over the weekend first traveling to Wingate, N.C. on Friday, Feb. 25 for a 1 p.m. doubleheader with the Bulldogs of Wingate University. USC Aiken will then travel a short distance to Pembroke, N.C. for their second league game of the season, closing out the month of February against the Braves of UNC Pembroke in a 1 p.m. PBC matchup.