COLUMBUS, Ga. – The nationally 13^th-ranked and Peach Belt Conference East Division third-seeded University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team erupted for an 11-2 victory over West Division fourth-seeded North Georgia on Thursday morning at the Peach Belt Conference Baseball Tournament at Golden Park.

The victory keeps USC Aiken (35-17) alive in the double-elimination league championship. The Pacers will now face off against West second-seeded Montevallo game in the ninth game of the 2012 PBC Tournament at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 11.

Montevallo picked up a narrow 6-5 10-inning win over the Pacers yesterday.

North Georgia (24-28) closes out its 2012 season with the loss to the Pacers on Thursday morning.

USC Aiken out-hit North Georgia, 16-8, in the game. Six Pacers finished with multiple hits in the contest with two Pacers claiming three hits.

The Pacers had three home runs and four doubles in the contest. Will Tankersley (Thomson, Ga./Thomson) blasted his team-leading 10^th home run with a three-run dinger in the top of the ninth.

Adam Anderson (Boulder, Colo./Trinidad State JC) and Bryce Baur (Moncks Corner, S.C./Florence-Darlington Tech) hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the fourth inning. The solo shots were the first home runs of the year for the duo.

Anderson ended his efforts on Thursday morning with three hits, two RBIs and two runs scored.

Josh Miller (Chapin, S.C./Chapin) was 3-for-6 with one RBI and one run scored.

Baur, who was 2-for-4 in the game, had three RBIs in the resounding Pacer win.

Tankersley was 2-for-5 with a double and a home run. The Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Year scored one run to go along with his three RBIs secured from the three-run home run.

USC Aiken opened Thursday's win by plating a run in the top of the first inning. The run would be a sign of things to come as the Pacers would score in four of the first five frames to own a 6-0 lead.

North Georgia would cut the Pacer lead to four with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, but USC Aiken would put the game well out of reach for the Saints with a five-spot in the ninth.

Derek Hooper was the only North Georgia player to secure multiple hits. He was 3-for-5.

The potent Pacer offense was not the only story on Thursday with Kelly Holt (Stockbridge, Ga./Middle Georgia) pitching masterfully to move to 6-4 on the year.

Holt fanned 10 in eight innings of work. He allowed just one earned run and eight hits.

Christian Stutts (Aiken, S.C./South Aiken) closed out the game on the mound for USC Aiken by dealing a scoreless ninth. Stutts struck out two of the three batters he faced in the bottom half of the ninth.

North Georgia starter Taylor Keinat was saddled with the loss. Keinat (4-5) pitched the first 3.2 innings, allowing five runs and nine hits.