AMERICUS, Ga. – Senior Forrest Koumas set a school record by striking out 18 batters while holding Georgia Southwestern to a mere three hits en route to a 2-0 victory Friday evening.

The Pacers are now 12-6 on the season and are 5-5 against conference competition.

Koumas' performance surpassed the previous school record of 16 set by Bryan Ward against GRU Augusta on March 11, 1993 and tied by Pete Pignatiello against Anderson on March 28, 2006. Koumas had 16 strikeouts heading into the ninth inning and promptly fanned the first and third batters of the frame for the record.  

He struck out the side in the sixth and eighth. Koumas also struck out at least one batter in each inning.  He was just one strikeout short of tying the Peach Belt Conference mark for a conference game, which was set by former UNC Pembroke hurler Jeremy Ward in 2001 and tied by Kennesaw State pitcher Grant Reynolds in 2003. Koumas gave up just one extra base hit – and the batter was quickly erased by an outstanding throw from Nile Goings.

Head coach Kenny Thomas' team had a runner in scoring position in the first and third innings, but was unable to convert. However, the squad got things going in the fourth stanza.

With one down, Ty Barkell beat out an infield single to third. He quickly came home when Chaz Pal laced a triple to center field for a 1-0 lead. Matt Bosse blasted a single up the middle, pushing the team's advantage to 2-0. The two runs were more than enough for Koumas, who was in complete control for the entire game.

For the contest, USC Aiken totaled two runs on six hits with one error while the Hurricanes were limited to just three hits.

Koumas improves to 2-1 on the year while throwing his first complete game of the season.

The Pacers return to action tomorrow against the Hurricanes. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.