AUGUSTA, Ga. – The No. 5 University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team lost a 6-2 contest at Augusta Sunday afternoon in the series finale.

The Pacers fall to 30-9 on the season and 19-8 against conference teams. The Jaguars improve to 27-11 overall and 16-5 in league play.

Head coach Kenny Thomas' team fell behind 2-0 after the home squad plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning.

After Augusta tacked on a score in the bottom of the third, USC Aiken managed to get a run back in the fourth.

Chaz Pal led off the stanza by reaching on a throwing error by the third baseman. Brian Parreira pulled a ball to right field, allowing Pal to hustle into third base. Zach Moon reached on a fielder's choice. Although Parreira was out at second base, Pal crossed home to make it 3-1.

USC Aiken went quietly in the fifth and the Jaguars scored three runs, but only two were earned, for a 6-2 advantage.

Pal reached base after he was hit by a pitch to lead off the sixth, but USC Aiken was unable to get anything else going in the stanza. The Pacers closed the gap in the seventh when Mitchell Price smashed a solo homer over the left field fence, making it 6-2.

Thomas' team tried to get things going in the ninth as Nile Goings reached on an error. However, after an out, USC Aiken hit into a game-ending double play.

For the game, Price led the team with a pair of hits, including the round-tripper.

Joe Marlow suffered his first loss of the season, giving up six runs on 10 hits. However, only four of the runs were earned. Marlow struck out two batters in 4.1 innings while Nick Jobst held the Jaguars scoreless over 3.2 frames while striking out four.

The Pacers return to action Wednesday when they host Newberry at 6:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.