COLUMBUS, Ga. – The University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team won an 11-0 game against Columbus State Saturday afternoon.
USC Aiken is now 17-11 on the season and 9-5 in league play. The Cougars sit at 18-8 overall and 7-4 in the PBC.
Zach Rafuse got the starting nod on the mound, throwing six innings and striking out seven batters while only allowing a single hit.
The Pacers picked up two runs in the top of the second.
Conner Durden started things off with a leadoff homer to left center. A batter later,
Chandler Rogers singled up the middle and quickly grabbed second on a ground out.
Cary Holloway singled to bring Rogers home and make it 2-0.
Going into the third, USC Aiken didn't let up, grabbing five more runs.
Trey Polewski smacked a leadoff single and then moved to second as
Alex Mills reached on an error. Polewski was pushed to third on a high fly ball and was quickly followed by Mills, who stole second. After
Blake Jenkins headed to first on a walk to fill the bases, Rogers sent a single to right field that brought Polewski home.
Blake Bottomley followed that up with a double that cleared the bases, bringing home Mills, Jenkins and Rogers. A batter later,
Jackson Hannon singled through the right side and brought Bottomley home to make it 7-0.
Deciding not to let up the pace, USC Aiken scored another four runs in the very next inning. With one out, Mills floated a single to center and then rushed all the way to third on a throwing error. A batter later, Jenkins singled to left to bring Mills home. Rogers reached on an error as Jenkins moved to second and both were brought around when Bottomley slammed a homer out to left field to make it 11-0.
For the game, Rogers had three hits while Bottomley and Hannon grabbed two apiece. Durden, Holloway, Jenkins, Mills, Polewski and Smithers all picked up one hit each. Bottomley led the way with six RBI.
On the mound,
Daniel Wiggins,
Blake Seigler and
Jacob Rye worked an inning each. Seigler struck out three, while Wiggins and Rye struck out one apiece.
The Pacers return to action tomorrow, March 24 as they finish the weekend series against Columbus State at 1 p.m.