Box Score COLUMBUS, Ga. – Peach Belt Conference West Division
second-seeded Montevallo scored a run in the bottom of the
10th inning to pick up a 6-5 upset win over nationally
13th-ranked and Peach Belt Conference East Division
third-seeded USC Aiken during the first game of the 2012 Peach Belt
Conference Tournament on Wednesday morning at Golden Park.
USC Aiken (34-17) will next fight to stay alive in the
double-elimination Peach Belt Conference Tournament by playing in
game five of the PBC Tournament at 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 10. USC
Aiken will face off against West No. 4 North Georgia.
Montevallo (25-26) scored the first four runs of the game on
Wednesday to own a 4-0 lead after three innings.
USC Aiken netted its first run of the contest in the top of the
fifth. USC Aiken would then pull within one with two runs in the
top of the sixth.
Josh Miller
(Chapin, S.C./Chapin) would pull the Pacers even in the contest in
the top of the eighth inning with a solo home run to left
field.
One inning later, USC Aiken looked to put itself in position for
the win when JJ
Loker (Elkton, Va./Spotswood) singled through the right side to
score pinch-runner Dylan Durham
(Trenton, S.C./Strom Thurmond) and put the Pacers ahead, 5-4.
Montevallo would not let the Pacers emerge with the win though
with the Falcons scoring one in the bottom of the ninth to even the
game at 5-all.
After USC Aiken was unable to score in the top of the
10th, Montevallo pinch-hitter Vinny Rodriquez doubled in
the winning run for Montevallo in the bottom of the inning.
Montevallo narrowly out-hit USC Aiken, 9-7, in the game.
Bill
Gerstenslager (Solon, Ohio/Mercyhurst) was the only Pacer with
multiple hits in the contest. He was 2-for-3 in the game.
Austin Dubberly led Montevallo in its win with two hits.
One of five Pacer pitchers on the day, Tyler Stephan
(Louisville, Ky./Trinity) suffered the loss on the hill for USC
Aiken. Stephan (1-1) pitched 1.1 innings.
The five Pacer pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts in the game
with Thomas
McLeod (Chapin, S.C./Chapin) collecting seven of the 12
strikeouts.
Montevallo reliever Wes Rich pitched the final 1.2 innings to
claim the win. He is now 4-3.
