SALISBURY, N.C. – In its final road game of the 2011 regular season, the University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team fell 5-3 to 15th-ranked Catawba in non-conference baseball action on Wednesday evening at Newman Park.

USC Aiken (23-17) arrived on the scoreboard first in the top of the second inning. JJ Loker (Elkton, Va./Spotswood) began the inning for the Pacers by being walked. Tripp Warrick (North Augusta, S.C./North Augusta) then singled down the right field line to place runners at the corners for USC Aiken.

After Jowan Gray (Aiken, S.C./South Aiken) sacrificed Warrick to second the Pacers had two runners in scoring position. Loker then scored on a wild pitch by Catawba pitcher Joe Kase to earn USC Aiken an early 1-0 lead.

Stephen Bellantoni (Oviedo, Fla./Lake Sumter CC) pushed the Pacer advantage to 2-0 shortly thereafter when he singled in Warrick.

USC Aiken would cling to the 2-0 lead until the bottom of the fifth inning when Catawba plated five runs to take a 5-2 lead.

The majority of the five runs in the stanza for Catawba (33-8) came off a grand slam from Catawba cleanup hitter Garrett Furr.

USC Aiken was able to get one of the runs back in the top of the next inning when Kyle Rice (Augusta, Ga./Cross Creek) singled in Stephen Carmon (Camden, S.C./Camden) to pull the Pacers back within two at 5-3.

Neither team would be able to find another run in the final three innings, leaving Catawba with the two-run victory.

Ryan Milewski (West Boylston, Mass./West Boylston) suffered the loss on the hill for the Pacers in relief of starter Jason Cochcroft (Gilbert, S.C./Gilbert). Milewski (0-2) pitched two innings, allowing the five runs in the fifth.

Kase claimed the victory for the Indians to improve to 2-1 on the year. Kase dealt the first six innings. Nathan Furr pitched the final three innings to earn his first save of the year.

Catawba out-hit USC Aiken, 11-7, in the contest.

Rice was the only Pacer with multiple hits as he went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Five Catawba players claimed two hits each, including Garrett Furr, who was 2-for-4 with four RBIs and a run scored.

USC Aiken will next play host to a weekend Peach Belt Conference series against the Pirates of Armstrong Atlantic State. The three-game set will begin with a single 7 p.m. game on Friday, April 15 and will conclude with a Saturday doubleheader the next day with the first pitch of the first game slated to leave the mound at 2 p.m.