HICKORY, N.C. – At the beginning of the season, head coach Jerry Snyder set a goal for his squad; return to the NCAA Softball Tournament. The University of South Carolina Aiken softball team (26-18) did just that, earning the seventh seed in the Southeast Regional, but the Pacers bowed out of contention Saturday afternoon after dropping their elimination game to the sixth-seeded Eagles of Carson-Newman (40-16-1) 6-0 at Bears Field.

"I felt like we had a better day than we did yesterday," stated Coach Snyder. "We were able to put ball in play, but we just had trouble getting those timely hits."

Five different Pacers acquired a hit in the contest with Brandy Bossle (North East, Md./Rising Sun) leading USC Aiken with a 1-for-2 performance.

"In 2009, we had quite a few seniors and it makes me very proud to come in this year with a bunch of freshmen and sophomores and play, in my mind, as well as, if not better than then," mused Snyder. "It bodes well for the future, great experience for the kids that are returning."

The Eagles acquired the win off 10 hits and scored four of their six runs in the sixth inning to stay alive in the tournament, moving on to face the Pirates of Armstrong Atlantic State (31-13) in another elimination game.

India Kornegay (Eufaula, Ala./Eufaula) started in the circle for USC Aiken, suffering the loss to fall to 13-10 in her freshman campaign. The rookie dealt out four strikeouts.

Mary Shealy pitched the complete game for Carson-Newman to improve to 37-14 for the year.