The 2017 University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team could be described as relentless and hard working. The squad was relentless in pursuit of each of the 40 victories on the year and the hard work paid big dividends throughout the season.

Head coach Kenny Thomas' team reached the 40-win plateau for the seventh time in his tenure. The program registered back-to-back 40-win seasons after a 40-18 finish in 2016.

There were times that the offense provided the firepower to pick up wins while other times the pitching staff came up huge in low-scoring affairs for victories. Pacer Nation managed to see the squad pick up 27 wins at home – and many nights the offense and defense were completely in sync, making the wins look easy.

Thomas had an All-American in hurler Joseph Benitez in addition to a pair of all-region performers in Mitchell Price and Luke Westerberg.

Additionally, USC Aiken had standouts that were "overlooked" on the year as Connor Riley put up one of the most impressive strikeout seasons in PBC history and the third-most strikeouts in a single year in school history with 130. Brian Parreira (all-PBC performer) hit .329 on the season and picked up NCBWA National Hitter of the Week honors after a truly impressive stretch of games near the end of the season. Jose Bonilla hit .399 on the year while Jonathan Banks posted a .356 batting average.

Price led the team with 14 homers and 59 RBI while Nile Goings continued his solid play and was introduced as an everyday player in the outfield. Zach Moon, a 2016 All-American, provided 12 round-trippers while Daulton Weeks sparked a comeback in the opening game of the NCAA Tournament. Skylar Mercado made some outstanding plays while Tyler Ammerman stepped up in what was voted as the "Best Finish of a Game" at the USC Aiken awards banquet with a walk-off hit over then-No. 1 Nova Southeastern.

On the mound, Benitez registered a school-record tying 11 wins while setting the school record for strikeouts (135) and innings pitched (116.1). Riley and William Ard each won six games while Christian Aragon brought home four wins. Mitch Spence was productive out of the bullpen while James Lynch, Connor Norton and Hunter Dollander had solid outings throughout the year.  Nick Yobbi did it all for the Pacers – doing so on short notice several times – and did so extremely well, whether it was starting, coming in during the late innings or even making the occasional early relief appearance.

During the season, it was not about one person handling all the pressure. At times, everyone stepped up and made an impact on getting the team to 40 wins. Conner Durden thrived in the early portion of the season while Charles Padilla finished his career in style. David Lankster recorded four starts and thrived defensively throughout many games during the year.

The season started out strong for the Pacers, picking up seven straight wins to open the campaign. The squad was challenged in just one of the contests, coming via a 10-9 11-inning win over NCAA Tournament participant Lincoln Memorial. After the sweep of the Railsplitters, USC Aiken hit the road for a date at Wingate. The team rattled off a 12-8 win before returning home to sweep NCAA Tournament participant Shepherd.

USC Aiken hit the road for a three-game series at Mount Olive and fought tooth-and-nail with the Trojans. The Pacers lost two-of-three, but had chances to win all three contests.

After back-to-back losses at UMO, Thomas' team pulled out a 9-6 win in the series finale. After a 19-10 win over Paine, the squad opened PBC play with a sweep of Young Harris, including a 20-0 win in the finale.

USC Aiken lost a heartbreaker to North Greenville in a mid-week game, but bounced back to sweep Armstrong in Savannah, Ga.

During the week of Spring Break, the Pacers hosted Saint Rose, winning 15-1, before hosting top-rated Nova Southeastern.

In a back-and-forth affair, USC Aiken trailed 10-8 heading into the bottom of the ninth. Durden singled home Price while Freddie Beamon III advanced to third. Ammerman came up a hit an opposite field shot into right field, scoring Beamon III and Andre Brown III for the 11-10 win.

USC Aiken carried the momentum into the second game, winning 11-3. Although Thomas' team dropped a 6-5 contest in the finale, the squad proved they could play with anyone in the country.

By winning two-of-three, the Pacers jumped from No. 3 to No. 1 in the national rankings the following week.   

After a mid-week win over Emmanuel, USC Aiken lost three at Columbus State. After dropping two-of-three at Lander, the squad bounced back for a shutout of Emmanuel before winning the series against Flagler.

The team carried the momentum into the weekend against rival Augusta – and handed the Jaguars three straight losses. After a win at Newberry, the Pacers turned their attention to the Patriots of Francis Marion. Thomas' squad took two-of-three against the visitors.

The squad bested Newberry before traveling to Montevallo for three high-scoring wins. The first one came with a 22-5 score while the Pacers won the next two 9-7 and 12-11, respectively, while wrapping up PBC play.

USC Aiken returned home for four regular-season games. The team cruised to a two-game sweep over Chowan before besting SAC foes Wingate and Catawba.

A three-run first inning allowed the Pacers to win the opening game of the PBC Tournament over Lander 3-2. Riley worked 5.2 innings while Yobbi retired all 10 batters he faced on a mere 39 pitches for the save.

Although the team lost the next two games in the PBC Tournament, the squad earned the No. 3 seed in the Southeast Region.

Trailing 5-3 in the ninth inning, Moon was hit by a pitch. Beamon III came in as a pinch runner and trotted around the bases after Weeks blasted a game-tying homer. Four batters later, Westerberg's single on a 2-2 pitch gave the Pacers the come-from-behind 6-5 win.

USC Aiken fell in the final two games of the season, against North Georgia and Catawba, but found hard in each contest while facing adversity.

The 2017 season marked the end for 15 seniors who helped the program to multiple NCAA Tournament berths and a pair of No. 1 rankings throughout their time. Despite the losses to graduation, Thomas and his staff will be ready to make another trip deep into the NCAA Tournament in 2018.