ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team lost a 3-0 decision to Young Harris Friday evening in the first game of pool play at the PBC Tournament.

The Pacers are now 33-18 on the season.

After a strong start by Mitch Spence, head coach Kenny Thomas' team had a chance to take the lead in the fourth. Jose Bonilla singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. With one down, a groundout pushed Bonilla to third. However, a fly ball ended the threat.

In the sixth, Chandler Rogers drew a base on balls. He promptly swiped second and a groundout allowed him to move to third. The Mountain Lions were able to retire the next batter, ending the stanza.

USC Aiken thwarted the opposition's attempt at taking the lead in the seventh when Brian Parreira rocketed the ball to second, ending the inning as Philip Watcher tagged the base runner on an attempted steal.

YHC jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the eighth. The Mountain Lions tacked on an unearned run in the ninth.

Spence pitched eight strong innings, but took the loss. He falls to 7-5 on the season. For the game, Spence struck out 11 and walked two. He gave up two runs on seven hits.

Bonilla and Watcher picked up hits while Parreira and Rogers each drew walks.

The Pacers return to action tomorrow when they face Columbus State at 1:30 p.m. The team will then square off against Flagler in the final game of pool play at 5 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.