AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team cruised to a 21-1 victory over Southern Wesleyan Friday night in a non-conference affair.

The Pacers improve to 34-14 on the season while the Warriors fall to 16-34.

Head coach Kenny Thomas' team pounded out 20 hits – and seven went for extra bases.

Leading the way for USC Aiken was Skylar Mercado, Brian Parreira and Mitchell Price, who all accounted for three hits. Jonathan Banks, David Lankster, Zach Moon and Joey Smithers rattled off two hits apiece.

Mercado and Parreira led everyone with five RBI apiece. Nile Goings drove in four on a grand slam while Moon tallied three RBI. Banks and Price notched two RBI apiece.

Moon and Price trotted across home plate four times each while Mercado and Parreira scored three times apiece. Goings and Max Schoen each crossed home twice.

On the mound, James Lynch was outstanding. He worked five innings and struck out 10 batters while giving up just three hits. After he exited with a 14-0 lead, Connor Norton, Connor Riley, Jared Felix and Bryse Buster combined to pitch the last four innings. All worked one inning apiece and each faced the minimum of three batters. No Warrior got on base after the fifth stanza.

In addition to the 10 strikeouts by Lynch, Felix retired the side with strikeouts while Norton registered a pair of strikeouts. Riley and Buster tallied one strikeout each.

With two runners on in the bottom of the first, Parriera singled into center field, plating Price for a 1-0 edge.

After the visitors knotted the game in the second, USC Aiken unleashed a seven-run stanza in the bottom of the inning for an 8-1 margin.

Lankster led off with a single. With two down, Schoen drew a walk. Banks scored on a single by Price. After Moon was hit by a pitch, Parriera took one for the team, plating Schoen. Mercado drew a walk to score Price. A pitching change did not help as Goings crushed a grand slam for an 8-1 lead.

Two innings later, Mercado's single scored Moon and Parreira. With two down, Banks doubled home Mercado and Goings for a 12-1 advantage. The home team made it 14-1 when Moon launched a two-run shot in the fifth.

USC Aiken added to its lead in the sixth as Moon drove in Schoen. With two on, Parreira pulled a pitch over the right field wall for an 18-1 score.

Price singled in a run in the seventh and Mercado finished the scoring in the eighth when his two-run shot drove in Preston Dawson, who led off the frame with a single.

The Pacers return to action tomorrow in the final game of the two-game series. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. Live stats, audio and video will be available at PacerSports.com.