AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team commenced its Peach Belt Conference campaign emphatically on Friday afternoon at Roberto Hernandez Stadium with a doubleheader sweep of Montevallo.

USC Aiken (7-1, 2-0 PBC) picked up a 4-2 win in the first game before coasting to a 12-3 win in game two. The twinbill sweep on Friday assures USC Aiken of a series victory in its first league three-game set of the year.

USC Aiken will look to complete a three-game league sweep of Montevallo (2-8, 0-2 PBC) in a 12 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 18 at the 'Bert.

Game One (USC Aiken 4, Montevallo 2)

USC Aiken scored the first run of the contest in game one in the bottom of the third inning.

In the top of the fifth, Montevallo would tie the game at 1-all. They would take the lead the next inning with another single-run inning.

Down 2-1, USC Aiken scored two in the bottom of the seventh to take back a lead that they would never relinquish.

Ty Barkell (Denver, Colo./Palmer Ridge) procured both of the RBIs in the bottom of the seventh for USC Aiken by scoring Nick Aranas and Bill Gerstenslager.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Gerstenslager (Solon, Ohio/Mercyhurst) collected an RBI of his own by singling through the right side to score Stephen Carmon (Camden, S.C./Camden), who had singled to right field to get on base earlier in the inning.

Aranas (Lexington, S.C./Lexington) and Stephen Bellantoni (Oviedo, Fla./Lake Sumter CC) led the Pacers in the first game victory with each finishing with two hits.

Cody White led Montevallo in the game with two hits and an RBI.

USC Aiken in total in the contest out-hit Montevallo, 8-7.

Ryan Milewski (West Boylston, Mass./West Boylston) acquired the win on the hill in relief of Pacer starter Derek Beasley (Harlem, Ga./Harlem). Milewski (2-0) struck out three in his four innings on the mound. Milewski did not allow a hit in his time on the mound.

Michael Shreves (0-1) suffered the loss on the hill for the Falcons in game one. He pitched the first seven innings, allowing three runs and six hits.  

Game Two (USC Aiken 12, Montevallo 3)

The Pacers dominated the second game basically from start-to-finish.

USC Aiken put the game out of reach of the Falcons very early on as they plated seven runs over the course of the first two innings. They would add another nine runs over the course of the rest of the contest to easily secure the victory.

Aranas just missed on tying the school record for most hits in a single game (five) in the second game with four hits. Aranas was 4-for-5 with two RBIs and one scored in the second game win.

Four Pacers recorded multiple hits in total with Josh Miller, Bellantoni and Branden Millhouse (Summerville, S.C./USC Upstate) all finishing with two hits.

Miller (Chapin, S.C./Chapin) blasted his first home run of the year in the game. He was 2-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored in the contest.

Millhouse was 2-for-5 with two runs scored in the game. He also had two stolen bases in the Pacer win, including a rare theft of home plate in the bottom of the second frame.

Millhouse was part of a Pacer theft unit that saw USC Aiken steal eight bases as a team. The eight stolen bases was just one shy of the school single game team record of nine.

Montevallo was led by Will Fulmer and Blaine Rosenberg in the second game with each collecting two hits.

Pacer starter Wyatt Brown (Suwanee, Ga./Middle Georgia) moved to 2-0 on the young season with his win in game two. He dealt the first five innings, striking out three.

Montevallo starter Alex Guilford was tagged with the loss on the mound. He lasted just 1.2 innings, allowing nine hits and seven runs.