AIKEN, S.C. – Despite enjoying a 4-0 lead at one point, the University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team fell further behind in the race to earn a spot in the 2011 Peach Belt Conference Baseball Tournament as the Pacers (23-18, 6-13 PBC) narrowly lost 6-5 to the Pirates of current PBC East No. 2 and national No. 20 Armstrong Atlantic State (28-10, 11-5) Friday night at Roberto Hernandez Stadium.

The game featured two distinct halves of the contest with the early going dominated by USC Aiken before a momentum shift took place that saw Armstrong Atlantic State gain ground on the Pacers.

Through the first three innings, the Pacers out-hit the Pirates 8-1 and held a 4-0 lead. However, the winds of change blew through the stadium and turned the tides in the favor of the Pirates as Armstrong would go on from there to out-hit the Pacers 11-3 over the last six innings.

Down 4-0 entering the fifth inning, Armstrong Atlantic put itself on the board in the when John Purvis scored off a shot to left-center field by Michael Price. Price would go on just a couple batters later to score when Drew Walker singled to left field to cut the deficit to two.

The Pirates continued to pressure the Pacers in the sixth inning as they scored one run to close within one, but Stephen Carmon pushed the Pacers back up by two when he knocked in Matt Key (New Ellenton, S.C./Silver Bluff) with a short shot to right field.

Errors plagued USC Aiken throughout the game as the Pacers committed four with the final one coming in the seventh inning to aid another Pirate across the plate and pull Armstrong back within one at 5-4.

Still in the seventh inning and with the sacks loaded and two outs registered, Alex Frederick walked to knot the score at five all before USC Aiken could get out of the inning.

Another two-out situation in the last of the ninth inning, this time a double to the wall in right-center field by Chris Zittrouer, would score Purvis for what would be the go-ahead run.

Carmon (Camden, S.C./Camden) led the Pacers at the plate in the first game of the series with a stellar 4-for-4 performance including one RBI and a run score. He was just a home run away from completing the cycle while Tyler Bourdo (Evans, Ga./Truett-McConnell) went 2-or-3 with an RBI and a run scored as well.

Head coach Kenny Thomas utilized a significant number of his pitchers as four hurlers saw action to strike out nine batters. Closer Joe Tart (Charlotte, N.C./Marion Military) suffered the loss in just two innings of work that saw him fan three Pirates to fall to 0-1 for the year.

Chris Base pitched eight solid innings for Armstrong striking out seven batters to claim the win on the mound and improve to 6-1. Jonathan Fulghum came in for the final inning to seal the victory for the Pirates in the first game of the series, clinching his first save of the year.

The Pacers and Pirates will continue their weekend series with a doubleheader tomorrow, Saturday, April 16 still scheduled to start at 2 p.m. depending on weather conditions. Be sure to check www.PacerSports.com for any updates.