Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

University of South Carolina Aiken Athletics

BSB_031923
5
Winner USC Aiken USCA 19-7
4
Columbus State CSU 19-6
Winner
USC Aiken USCA
19-7
5
Final
4
Columbus State CSU
19-6
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
USC Aiken USCA 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 9 2
Columbus State CSU 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 5 0

W: Smith, Louie (1-1) L: Jamie Boatright (0-1) S: Wilhelm, Dylan (8)

Game Recap: Baseball |

USC Aiken Claims The Series With 5-4 Victory Over No. 4 Columbus State

COLUMBUS, Ga. – The No. 25 University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team posted a hard-fought 5-4 victory at No. 4 Columbus State Sunday afternoon.

The Pacers are now 19-7 overall and 11-1 in league play. The Cougars are now 19-6 on the season and 11-4 against conference foes.

Trailing 3-0 going into the second inning, head coach Michael Holder's team got things going. Nick Tripp earned a one-out walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. A walk to Joseph Mozingo put two runners on and a groundout put each runner ahead 90 feet. A wild pitch plated Tripp, making it 3-1. Two batters later, Josh Sharp's single to right field scored Mozingo.

The score remained the same until the Pacers had a three-run seventh inning. Jackson Hannon doubled to right center field to open things up. A walk to Justin Byrd put two Pacers on the bases. With one down, Hannon and Byrd each swiped a base before a walk to Kaden Blankenship loaded the bases. Tripp doubled down the left field line, scoring Hannon and Byrd. After a pitching change, Mozingo lifted a fly ball to right field for the sacrifice as Blankenship scored for a 5-3 lead.

The Cougars cut the deficit to just one with a run in the eighth inning but USC Aiken's defense came up huge. With runners on second and third with two outs, Austin Sandifer came in to pitch and forced a fly ball to right field for the final out.

Dylan Wilhelm came in to pitch the ninth frame. After a strikeout, CSU took second on a steal. However, Wilhelm used his experience and baffled the final two batters via strikeouts – one looking and one swinging – for the series victory.

For the game, Hannon led the way with three hits, including a double. Mozingo and Parker each had two hits in the game while Tripp had a pair of RBI.

Kevin Cox got the starting nod on the mound and worked 3.1 innings. Louie Smith picked up the victory after tossing the next 4.1 frames. Sandifer worked one-third of an inning before Wilhelm closed the door on the Cougars. Smith had four strikeouts while Smith and Wilhelm had three strikeouts apiece.  

Smith picked up the victory while Wilhelm tallied the save.

The Pacers return to action Wednesday when they host Coker at 6 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.
Print Friendly Version