SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken softball team registered a sweep by scores of 3-2 and 7-3 at Converse Tuesday afternoon in a pair of non-conference contests.
The Pacers are now 5-1-1 overall while Converse falls to 0-8.
In game one, head coach
Jerry Snyder's team fell behind 2-0 after the first frame but never fretted.
USC Aiken picked up its first hit of the contest when
Magan Thrower notched a single in the second stanza. In the third,
Brielle Jungblut ripped a double to right center field but neither student-athlete was driven in.
Chandler Terrapin led off the fourth and promptly scampered to second on a bad throw by the shortstop. She hustled to third on
Hayley Elkins' fly ball to right field.
Hannah Price singled her home to make it 2-1.
Sydney Murphy reached with a base knock in the fifth, but USC Aiken trailed 2-1 heading into the sixth.
Elkins led off with a walk.
Leah Boghosian came in as a pinch runner and scampered to second base when Price laid down a sacrifice bunt. With two down, rookie
Hanna Hyder pinch hit for
Courtney Strauss. She promptly blasted a game-tying single through the left side of the infield, making it 2-2.
After a scoreless seventh frame, the international tiebreaker rule went into effect, placing a runner on second base to start the inning.
Taylor Allen stood on second base to start the stanza as she came in for Terrapin. Elkins bunted Allen to third. Price reached on a fielding error, which allowed Allen to score the game-winning run.
Converse had a chance to tie or win the game in the bottom of the eighth. The team loaded the bases with one out before
Lyndie Dorgan swiftly snagged a line drive and tossed a hard hit ball to Thrower for the final two outs of the game.
Elkins struck out six batters in three innings of work. Price came in and worked the final five innings. She struck out four while giving up just one hit en route to earning her first victory of the season.
Snyder's team took control early in game two. With two down in the second, Thrower belted a double down the left field line.
Julianne Leduc followed it up with a bending triple down the right field line, scoring Thrower. Dorgan, who started the game in the circle, helped her own cause by slapping a single up the middle for a 2-0 edge.
The Pacers added to their lead in the third. Hyder registered a double to the gap in left center field. She was able to trot home on Terrapin's two-run blast over the center field fence for a 4-0 advantage.
USC Aiken tacked on to its lead in the fifth.
Kristan Lowery roped a one-out single to left field.
Leah Boghosian came in as a pinch runner and immediately stole second base. She moved to third on Hyder's single. Boghosian scored on a wild pitch while Hyder hustled to third. Terrapin struck out, but the ball got away from the catcher. On the throw to first, Hyder raced home for a 6-0 margin.
Elkins earned a base on balls before
Taylor Allen came in as a pinch runner. Allen swiped second before making the trek 120 more feet for a run on Price's seeing-eye-single through the left side.
The home squad managed to push across three runs in the seventh, but Jungblut snagged the final out of the contest, securing the win.
The Pacers return to action Friday when they host Pfeiffer in a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.
