PEMBROKE, N.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team split a road Peach Belt Conference doubleheader with current national No. 7 UNC Pembroke on Saturday afternoon at Sammy Cox Field.

UNC Pembroke (22-4, 6-4 PBC) earned a 6-4 victory over USC Aiken (15-10, 2-6 PBC) in the first game. USC Aiken closed out the day by taking a 5-1 win in game two.

The Pacers and Braves will play the rubber game of the Peach Belt Conference East division series at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 20.

USC Aiken led from start to finish in the second game behind a complete game performance from Thomas McLeod (Chapin, S.C./Chapin).

McLeod (4-3) struck out a career-best 10 batters in his nine innings on the mound. He allowed eight hits and gave up just the one run.

It was the first complete game for the junior left-handed pitcher.

USC Aiken scored in the first and third innings to go ahead 2-0. In the third inning, Kyle Rice (Augusta, Ga./Cross Creek) netted the eventual game-winning run for the Pacers when he singled in Josh Miller (Chapin, S.C./Chapin).

Tyler Bourdo (Evans, Ga./Truett-McConnell) gave the Pacers a dominating 4-0 lead in the top of the sixth inning when he doubled in two runs. JJ Loker (Elkton, Va./Spotswood) acquired the final run of the game for USC Aiken one inning later when he singled in a run in the top of the seventh inning.

UNC Pembroke would finally the cross the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but it would not be enough to overcome McLeod and the Pacers.

Brad Isom (5-1) suffered the loss for UNC Pembroke in game two. Isom gave up four of the runs and was forced from the contest after six innings on the mound.

Overall, USC Aiken out-hit UNC Pembroke, 12-8, in game two.

Four Pacers were able to record multiple hits with Stephen Carmon (Camden, S.C./Camden), Teddy Leverett (Evans, Ga./Truett-McConnell), Miller and Loker all collecting two hits each.

Josh Haley was 2-for-5 for UNC Pembroke in game two.

Down 3-0 entering the top of the fifth inning in game one, USC Aiken took its first lead of the contest with four runs in the top half of the fifth frame.

After USC Aiken's Stephen Bellantoni  (Oviedo, Fla./Lake Sumter CC) scored on a wild pitch to leave the Pacers down by just one at 3-2, Carmon pulled the Pacers ahead at 4-3 with a two RBI single up the middle.

The Pacer advantage would last until the bottom of the seventh when UNC Pembroke's Jason Coker singled in a run to tie things up at 4-4 in the first game of the day.

USC Aiken would be unable to post a run in the top of the eighth. The Braves were able to collect two in the bottom portion of the inning when Haley hit what would prove to be the game-winning two-run home run in UNC Pembroke's two-run win.

The Pacers were out-hit 8-4 in game one. No Pacer recorded multiple hits in the contest.

Haley was the only player on either team to claim more than one hit. He was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

USC Aiken's Jeremy Smith (Minter, Ala./Southern Union CC) took the loss in game one. The Pacer reliever, who came into the game for starter Houston Taylor (Chesterfield, S.C./Cheraw), is now 3-1 on the season.  He pitched the final 1.1 innings of the game.

Taylor fanned five in his first start of the 2011 season.

UNC Pembroke reliever Brantley Hattrich (3-0) garnered the win on the hill in game one as he dealt three scoreless innings in relief of starter Josh Bagley. Braxton Lewis pitched a scoreless ninth to obtain his second save of the year.