AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken softball team split a doubleheader with Tusculum on Wednesday afternoon at JH Satcher Field.

USC Aiken (7-3) garnered a 1-0 win in game one, while Tusculum (11-8) earned a 3-2 come-from-behind victory in the second game.

The Pacers picked up the winning run in game one in the bottom of the fourth inning when Cortney Sadler (Bradenton, Fla./State College of Fla., Manatee-Sarasota) blasted a home run to right centerfield. 

Behind another strong outing from India Kornegay (Eufaula, Ala./Eufaula HS) in the circle the Pacers were then able to hold on from that point forward in the game one one-run win.

Kornegay fanned nine batters in the first game victory. She allowed just one hit.

USC Aiken as a team out-hit Tusculum, 4-1, in the first game.

In the second game, USC Aiken got on the scoreboard early, posting a run in the bottom of the first inning when Kayla Denham (Palatka, Fla./Daytona State College) tripled in Whitney Clary (Newberry, S.C./Newberry HS). 

Tusculum would tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the third inning, but USC Aiken would grab the lead back at 2-1 with a run in the bottom of the fourth.

The score still 2-1 in favor of the Pacers in the top of the seventh, Tusculum's Nicole Ball hit a two-run home run in the inning to give the Pioneers a lead that they would never relinquish.

Tusculum out-hit USC Aiken, 7-4, in game two. Denham was the only Pacer with multiple hits as she claimed two hits in the contest.

Ball led the Pioneers with two hits in game two.

Kornegay (7-3) suffered the loss for USC Aiken in game two in relief of starter Samantha Lemm (Berlin, N.J./Eastern HS), who pitched the first five innings.

Elizabeth Johnson (9-4) claimed the victory in the circle in game two for Tusculum.

USC Aiken will next look for its first Peach Belt Conference victory of the 2012 season with a home doubleheader against national No. 23 Flagler on Thursday, March 1. The first game is slated to begin at 2 p.m.