FLORENCE, S.C. – The No. 15 University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team plated three runs in the first inning and held off Lander by a 3-2 count in the opening round of the PBC Tournament.
The Pacers improve to 39-11 on the season. The Bearcats fall to 21-30.
Head coach
Kenny Thomas' team forced a double play in the top of the first before
Connor Riley registered a fly ball to end the inning.
USC Aiken went to work quickly. In the bottom of the frame,
Jose Bonilla led off with a first pitch double to right field. Two pitches later,
Luke Westerberg ripped a single to right field, pushing Bonilla to third base.
Mitchell Price laid down an excellent sacrifice bunt, pushing Westerberg to second.
Nile Goings followed him up with a single to center field, scoring Bonilla. On an errant throw by the center fielder, Westerberg raced home for a 2-0 advantage.
USC Aiken increased its margin to 3-0 when
Brian Parreira garnered a double to right field, plating Goings.
The designated visitors pushed across a run in the second to make it a 3-1 contest. The Bearcats tried a double steal, but
Tyler Ammerman caught the ball from Parreira and quickly fired it back to home plate. Parreira applied the tag to end the threat.
Leading 3-2 in the fifth inning, Riley continued to dominate the opposition by striking out the side. He continued on the mound through the first two outs of the sixth inning before
Nick Yobbi came in from the bullpen.
Yobbi went to work, forcing a fielder's choice for the final out of the sixth. Yobbi was outstanding against Lander, garnering 10 straight outs to end the game.
For the game, Riley went 5.2 innings and struck out nine. He gave up two runs on two hits while tossing 118 pitches. Yobbi worked 3.1 frames en route to earning the save. He struck out three batters, had five fly ball outs and two groundouts. In all, he threw a mere 39 pitches.
At the plate, Goings led the way with three of the team's seven hits, including a double. Parreira had a pair of base knocks while both had one RBI.
The Pacers square off against Georgia College tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.