Each week, USC Aiken will produce notes. This week, the Pacers play four games at home starting on Wednesday night for their second meeting of the season against the Coker Cobras. On Friday, USC Aiken begins a three-game PBC home series against the Young Harris Mountain Lions.
Recapping Last Week
Michael Holder's team is now 19-7 on the season. They suffered their first conference loss to the Columbus State Cougars bringing the conference record to 11-1. The Pacers were 2-2 on the week after dropping a Wednesday night matchup to Newberry, but winning the series 2-1 against the #4 Cougars.
Win Streak Snapped
The Pacers saw their eight-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the Newberry Wolves Wednesday evening. The game saw three lead changes and two ties before the Wolves took an 8-3 lead with the help of runs in the eighth and ninth innings. After pushing one run across home plate, the Pacers had the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and two out. A fielder's choice ended the contest and snapped the Pacers win streak.
We Like Them Close
In the three-game series against the #4 Columbus State Cougars, each game was decided by one run.
The Friday night game was pushed to Saturday due to inclement weather. The makeshift doubleheader saw the Pacers lose 1-0 in game one and earn the 4-3 victory in game two. The lone run in game one came for the Cougars in the bottom of the sixth inning giving them the win.
Joel Haney pitched seven innings giving up just the one run on five hits with three strikeouts to one walk.
Tripp Takes A Trip
In game two on Saturday, the Pacers found themselves down 3-1 at the end of the third. They were able to string runs together in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to collect the 4-3 victory. None was greater than the run put on the board by
Nick Tripp in the sixth. With scores by
Luke Parker and
Jackson Hannon already on the board from previous innings, Tripp belted a solo homerun over the right center field fence giving the Pacers the lead on what would be the last run of the game.
Jacob Fletcher gave up three runs on six hits while striking out four in seven innings of work.
Dylan Wilhelm pitched the ninth inning and collected his seventh save of the season.
No Comeback For You
In the series finale, USC Aiken scored three runs in the seventh and held off a comeback attempt by the Cougars in the bottom of the eighth to take the 5-4 victory. The Pacers scored two runs in the second when Tripp and
Joseph Mozingo both scored but were still down 3-2. In the seventh, Tripp shined again this time with a double down the left field line that drove in Hannon and
Justin Byrd. A sac fly by Mozingo scored
Kaden Blankenship giving the Pacers the 5-3 lead. After the Cougars scored a run,
Austin Sandifer came in to relieve
Louie Smith with runners on second and third with two outs. A fly ball ended the inning.
I Collect Saves
Wilhelm collected his seventh and eighth saves over the weekend in the final two games of the series against the Cougars. Collectively, Wilhelm pitched 2.0 innings giving up no runs on no hits and struck out three against three walks.
Inside The Numbers
Since moving to Division II, the Pacers are 137-62 (68.8 percent) in Wednesday games. Across the weekend, the Pacers are 155-106 (59.4 percent) on Fridays, 353-238 (59.8 percent) in Saturday contests and 212-155 (57.8 percent) in Sunday matchups. During that same time, the team is on 13-7 March 22, 8-9 on March 24, 11-5 on March 25, and 15-5 on March 26.
Against The Opponents
The Pacers are 6-2 all-time against the Coker Cobras and 4-0 at home. USC Aiken defeated the Cobras 4-3 just two weeks ago in Hartsville. Against the Mountain Lions, the Pacers are 17-8 and 13-1 at home. Last year's series saw Young Harris win two games to one.
