Box Score AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken's high-powered offense got things going early en route to an 11-8 victory over visiting Lincoln Memorial in the season-opening contest for both teams.
The No. 14 Pacers are now 1-0 on the season while the Railsplitters are 0-1.
Ty Barkell led the team with four hits in five at bats while driving in three runs. Newcomer Chaz Pal went two-for-four and drove in five. He also scored twice. Pal, TJ Costen, Barkell and Moore all crossed home plate on two occasions.
Forrest Koumas got the start and pitched four innings. Matt Hissong was on the mound for two innings and picked up the victory. After a strong showing by Cole Lee in the seventh and eighth innings, James Lynch worked the ninth to pick up the save.
USC Aiken got out of a jam in the top of the first as LMU managed to get the bases loaded with nobody out. However, Koumas forced an infield pop-up and a double play to end the threat.
The Pacers jumped on top with two runs in the first after Barkell singled home Moore and Kody Belcher. Belcher singled to short and moved to second on a balk. After Moore walked, both runners moved up 90 feet by swiping a base.
USC Aiken broke things open in the third stanza. Barkell got things going after singling and moving to second on an error. On the play, Sean Miller scored on the error. Miller had reached base on a fielding error by the second baseman.
After Costen and Matt Bosse each walked to load the bases, Pal tripled to right center field. Max Schoen's sacrifice fly pushed the lead to 7-0.
In the fifth frame, the Railsplitters rallied, plating six runs on four hits. The big hit of the frame came on a grand slam for the final four runs.
Head coach Kenny Thomas' team would not relinquish the lead as the pitching staff quelled any thoughts of LMU taking the lead.
With the score still at 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh, Pal doubled home Barkell and Costen, who had each singled to lead off the frame. Randy Luckett produced a pinch-hit single, plating Pal for a 10-6 lead.
The visitors scored a pair of runs in the eighth inning, but Moore scored an insurance run in the bottom of the frame. Halfway between second and third, Moore was chased back to second on a pitch. However, the ball was unable to be handled and bounced into center field. Taking off, Moore never slowed down and easily crossed home plate for the 11th run.
Lynch came in at the start of the ninth and was extremely productive, sending the Railsplitters down in order to secure the victory while picking up the save.
The teams square off in the second game of the series tomorrow at 1 p.m. Live stats, video and audio are available at PacerSports.com.
