AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team lost a hard-fought 5-3 contest to Georgia Southwestern Friday evening in the series opener for both teams.
The Pacers are now 25-15 on the year, including 17-5 in the PBC.
GSW pushed across two runs in the first, one in the third and another in the sixth for a 4-0 lead. Head coach
Michael Holder's team got back into the game in the sixth stanza.
Jackson Hannon gave the home squad momentum when he rocketed the first pitch of the inning high over the left field fence to make it 4-1.
Justin Byrd fought off a pitch, making it foul, before seeing ball four. He hustled to third base when
Joseph Mozingo belted a single to left field.
Nick Tripp's groundout allowed Byrd to soar home, pulling the home team within two at 4-2.
Two batters later,
Luke Parker ripped a pay-off pitch up the middle to drive in Mozingo. However, the team was unable to tie it as the Hurricanes got out of the frame with a strikeout.
Down 5-3 in the seventh,
Josh Sharp pulled a pitch into right center field before promptly stealing second base. A walk to Hannon put two runners on with one away.
GSW had a chance to add to the lead in the ninth, but
Jacob Bodkin registered a strikeout and a groundout to the shortstop for the final two outs, ending the threat.
In the bottom of the ninth,
Kaden Blankenship nearly got everything on a pitch, sending it high off the left center field wall to lead off the stanza. With two down, Hannon earned a walk to put two runners on base, but a strikeout ended the contest.
For the game, Hannon, Sharp and
Kaden Usry had two hits apiece. Hannon crushed a home run while Blankenship rattled off a double.
On the mound,
Jacob Fletcher went seven innings. He gave up five runs but only three were earned. Fletcher had seven strikeouts.
Justin Byrd tossed an inning and had two strikeouts while Bodkin fanned two batters in the ninth.
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.