Box Score AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken finished off a three-game sweep of Georgia Southwestern with a 4-2 victory over the Peach Belt Conference foe Sunday afternoon.
The Pacers are now 35-13 overall and completed the conference portion of their regular season with a 20-10 effort.
Taylor Peed worked eight innings against the Hurricanes and gave up just two runs on five hits. He struck out two and walked three. James Lynch threw a perfect ninth to pick up his save.
After Peed got out of a tough jam in the first where two batters reached base, head coach Kenny Thomas' team got on the board quickly.
T.J. Costen led off the stanza with a double to left and moved to third on Sean Miller's well-placed sacrifice bunt to third. Tyler Moore hit a high chopper to third and was easily safe at first, putting runners on first and third. Moore swiftly stole second and Ty Barkell laced a triple to right field, scoring Costen and Moore for a 2-0 edge.
With one down, Matt Bosse singled to left, which allowed Barkell to trot home for a 3-0 margin. Bosse motored to second on a pitch for a steal and after a walk to Ben Donath, Dylan Durham reached on an error by the shortstop. With Bosse hustling on the play since there were two outs in the inning, he managed to cross home plate for the 4-0 advantage.
The run support that Peed got in the inning was more than enough as he hurled a gem. After the Hurricanes scored two in the second, Peed he didn't allow a base runner again until the fifth, when a double play ended the threat.
Peed, pitching in a groove all game long, retired the side in the fifth and sixth before getting out of a jam in the seventh. He settled back down and retired the side in the eighth before Lynch came in for the save.
Lynch got deep in the count only once in the inning, but retired all three batters he faced. Down to their last out, the Hurricanes' batter hit one sharply in the hole on the left side. It looked as though the tying run would come to the plate, but Sean Miller made an excellent play, registering the final out of the game.
At the plate, Barkell drove in two runs while Bosse and Durham each had one RBI. Moore and Charles Padilla had two hits apiece while Costen, Barkell, Bosse, Donath and Durham all had one.
On the day, USC Aiken tallied four runs on nine hits with no miscues while the Hurricanes had two runs on five hits with two errors.
Barkell's triple in the first marked the 22nd of the season for Thomas squad, which broke the school record of 21 that was set in 2005.
The Pacers, who have won five straight, return to action Friday evening at 7:30 p.m., when they host Catawba in a non-conference contest. Live stats, video and audio will be available at PacerSports.com.
