AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken split a doubleheader with Columbus State Sunday afternoon, winning 6-0 before falling 10-5.
The Pacers are now 9-12 on the season and 3-3 in the league. The Cougars are 19-4 on the year and 5-1 against PBC foes.
Joel Haney dominated the visitors in the first game. He tossed a complete game, throwing 126 pitches with 12 shutouts against two walks while giving up just an infield single in the first inning.
In the second inning,
Kaden Blankenship singled and moved to second on a walk to
Scott Huntley.
Carson Suess doubled home Blankenship for a 1-0 edge.
Tyler Littlefield followed him up with a base knock to center field, plating Huntley.
Sean McQuillan's single scored Suess before
Jeff Cyr's double scored Littlefield for a 4-0 advantage.
The score would remain the same until the sixth inning. Suess walked and hustled to second on a sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, Cyr ripped a pitch up the middle, scoring Suess for a 5-0 margin.
In the eighth, Cyr's sacrifice fly scored Littlefield, who had reached on a lead-off walk.
For the game, Cyr and McQuillan each had three hits. Cyr drove in three while McQuillan had one RBI. Littlefield and Suess each had one RBI. The dyad also each scored twice. Blankenship crossed home once in the win.
In game two, USC Aiken jumped on top with three runs in the first. McQuillan got things going with a lead-off walk. Two batters later,
Josh Sharp singled to put two on base. Hannon followed him up with a base hit to score McQuillan. Blankenship singled home Sharp and
Nick Tripp singled home Hannon for a 3-0 edge.
An eight-run second inning put the visitors up 8-3, but interim head coach
Michael Holder's team continued to play hard. In the fourth, the team struck for a pair of runs to make it 8-5. Sharp doubled home
Marcus Mastellone and McQuillan to pull within three.
The Cougars added two runs in the fifth and allowed just one more USC Aiken student-athlete to reach base the rest of the way in the seven-inning contest.
For the game, Sharp had three hits and two RBI. Tripp posted two hits and knocked one in. Blankenship and Hannon each had one RBI apiece. McQuillan walked four times and crossed home twice in the loss.
On the mound,
Jacob Rye got the start. He worked 1.2 innings and had a strikeout.
Louie Smith had two strikeouts in an inning of work while
Austin Sandifer pitched 2.1 frames, registering three strikeouts.
Dylan Wilhelm garnered three strikeouts while tossing 2.0 innings.
The Pacers return to action Tuesday when they host Coker at 4 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.