AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team used a seven-run seventh inning to pick up an 8-2 win over Carson-Newman Friday evening in the season opener.

The Pacers are now 1-0 on the year while the Eagles fall to 1-1 after winning their season-opening contest at Mars Hill on Wednesday.

The visitors picked up a run in the third and another in the fourth but head coach Michael Holder's team cut the deficit to one in the bottom of the sixth. After James Eckert ripped a single to center field, he hustled to second on a groundout by Josh Sharp. He moved to third on a wild pitch before a Jackson Hannon RBI grounder made the score 2-1.

USC Aiken took the lead in the seventh stanza. Nick Tripp led off the inning with a walk. Two batters later, he trotted to second when Jose Hernandez was hit by a pitch. With two down, Tai Gilbert came in as a pinch runner for Tripp. Luke Parker stepped into the box and blasted a double down the right field line, plating Gilbert and Hernandez for a 3-2 advantage. With the bases loaded, Hannon earned a full count walk, pushing in Parker. Another full count walk was issued to Justin Byrd, allowing Eckert to take his time crossing home plate for a 5-2 margin.

Dalton Graves came in as a pinch hitter. Two pitches into the at bat, he was grazed by an offering, extending the advantage to 6-2 as Sharp scored on the play. A bounding ball to the shortstop by Kaden Blankenship allowed two runs to score as both runners were hustling on contact.

Derek Espinoza saw his first collegiate action in the bottom of the eighth. He promptly retired the side in order, including earning a strikeout on a 1-2 pitch against the first batter he faced.

Bryce Toci smacked his first collegiate hit, which was a double, on the very first pitch he saw in the bottom of the eighth.

For the game, Eckert led the way with a three-for-three performance. He also crossed home twice. Blankenship went two-for-four with two RBI. Parker had a pair of RBI as did Hannon. Parker and Toci had extra base hits for Holder's team.

On the mound, Joel Haney went five innings. He had a pair of strikeouts. Evan Condon tossed a pair of frames and notched one strikeout en route to earning the victory. Derek Espinoza went the final two innings in the win. He accounted for three strikeouts.

The Pacers return to action tomorrow for the second game of the series starting at 2 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.