AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team scored five runs in the ninth inning and fought off a furious rally to defeat Flagler 7-6 Saturday afternoon.

The Pacers are now 11-17 on the season and 4-7 in the PBC.

Scoreless in the third, Tyler Littlefield earned a walk and moved to second when Sean McQuillan singled. Jeff Cyr reached on a fielder's choice. A throwing error by the third baseman allowed Littlefield to move to third. He scored on Josh Sharp's sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead.  

Tied at 1-1 in the fifth, Cyr saw a 1-1 pitch that he liked and promptly crushed it over the right center field wall for a 2-1 edge.

The teams were tied at 2-2 in the top of the ninth frame. Interim head coach Michael Holder's team got things going in a hurry when Nick Tripp doubled down the left field line. Luke Parker came in as a pinch runner and hustled to third when Jackson Hannon registered an infield single. Jose Hernandez reached on a fielder's choice which pushed across Parker.

Two batters later, Tyler Littlefield's bunt single pushed across Hannon for a 4-2 advantage. With the bases loaded, Sean McQuillan drew a full-count walk to make it 5-2. USC Aiken was not close to being done with the inning. Cyr singled to right field, plating Scott Huntley and Littlefield for a five-run margin.

For the game, Cyr led the way with three hits, including a homer. He drove in three. Hannon had a pair of hits and scored. Tripp recorded an extra-base hit while Littlefield crossed home twice.

Joel Haney got the starting nod and worked six innings. He gave up just two runs on eight hits. Austin Sandifer threw 1.1 innings of relief with a strikeout. Louie Smith came in and threw 1.1 innings and had a strikeout. Dylan Wilhelm closed the game by getting the final out.

The Pacers return to action tomorrow at 1 p.m., for the final game of the series at Flagler. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.