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Box Score 2 AUGUSTA, Ga. - The University of South Carolina Aiken softball team picked up a road doubleheader split against Peach Belt Conference foe and rival Augusta State on Friday.
Augusta State (17-25, 6-8 PBC) won the first game, 2-1, but USC Aiken (21-17-1, 8-8 PBC) was able to secure the split with a 7-6 victory in 11 innings in game two.
The Pacers will next be in action on Sunday, April 7 at home against nationally 19th-ranked Columbus State. The twinbill is slated to get underway at 2 p.m.
Game 1: Augusta State 2, USC Aiken 1
USC Aiken fell 2-1 in game one of the doubleheader with Augusta State on Friday.
Augusta State scored first on a bunt single by Macy Terry in the third inning. Molly Walton scored on the Terry bunt.
The Pacers were able to tie the game at 1-1 with a run in the top of the fifth inning. Sarah Montei led off the fifth with a double to left centerfield and was sacrificed to third by Shannon Traylor (Prosperity, S.C./Mid-Carolina HS). Kaitlyn White would drive in the Pacer run with a single up the middle to score Montei (Summerville, S.C./Summerville HS).
The Jaguars would strike again in the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run off the bat of Kristen Bagley to retake the lead.
USC Aiken would get a runner to third in the top of the seventh, but a Jaguar double play would end the game.
The Pacers out-hit the Jaguars 7-3 in game one. Montei was the lone player with multiple hits in the game, going 2-for-3 with one run scored.
India Kornegay took the loss for the Pacers in game one. Kornegay (Eufaula, Ala./Eufaula HS) struck out eight and gave up one earned run in six innings of work.
Haley Birkle got the win for the Jaguars, pushing her record to 6-12 on the year.
Game 2: USC Aiken 7, Augusta State 6 (11 innings)
USC Aiken earned a split of the doubleheader with a 7-6 victory in 11 innings in game two.
Neither team was able to score until the fourth inning, when the Pacers struck first on a Cortney Sadler (Bradenton, Fla./State College of Fla., Manatee-Sarasota) single that scored Montei.
The Jaguars would answer with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. The four runs came on a pair of two-RBI doubles by Brooke Stephens and Laura Brown.
USC Aiken answered with four runs of their own, retaking the lead at 5-4 in the top of the fifth inning. Brandy Bossle (North East, Md./Rising Sun HS) led off the inning with a double to center field, and White would drive her in with a single to right. White later scored on a wild pitch. Lindsey Jones got an RBI bunt single that scored Brittney Williamson, and then Jones (North Augusta, S.C./North Augusta HS) came around to score on a Victoria Burkett single to left field.
The Pacers added another run in the top of the sixth on a Jones double that drove in Williamson (Lexington, S.C./White Knoll HS). The Jaguars struck back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 6-6. The Jaguars scored on a bases loaded walk and a sacrifice fly.
With the game tied at 6-6 neither team would be able to plate another run until the 11th inning. The Pacers broke the tie in the 11th when Jones scored on an error.
Kornegay was able to close the game out with two runners on base in the bottom of the 11th to secure the Pacer victory. Kornegay (12-9) got the win in game two, pitching seven and a third innings in relief.
Paige Deschaine (1-8) got the loss for the Jaguars in game two.
USC Aiken out-hit Augusta State, 10-4, in game two. Three Pacers picked up multiple hits in the win. Jones led the way, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. White (McAllen, Texas/College of Charleston) and Burkett (Gilbert, S.C./Gilbert HS) both collected two hits in the victory.
No Jaguar was able to collect multiple hits in game two.
