Each week, USC Aiken will produce notes. This week, the University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team will compete in the Peach Belt Conference tournament as the No. 3 seed beginning May 5. The Pacers will travel to Young Harris, Ga., to face off against the Lander Bearcats who earned the No. 6 seed.
As the No. 2 seed, Young Harris College will host the 2, 3, 6 and 7 seeds. The Pacers will play in a double-elimination bracket with two games Friday, three games Saturday, and one or two games on Sunday. The winner of this side of the bracket will play the winner of the 1, 4, 5, 8 bracket in a best-of-three championship series May 12-13.
Recapping Last Week
Head coach
Michael Holder's team finished last week 2-2. USC Aiken defeated Erskine at home before dropping the first two games of the final conference series against Lander at Roberto Hernandez Stadium. The Pacers avoided the series sweep by defeating the Bearcats with a walk-off win on Sunday's Senior Day. Holder's team finished the regular season 30-20 and 20-10 in the PBC.
Byrd Is The Word
Justin Byrd showed the seniors on the team that the squad is in good hands as they depart for bigger and better things. The Pacers found themselves down by one in the bottom of the ninth inning in game three against Lander. USC Aiken was looking to avoid its first series sweep of the year. The freshman drove a two-out single through the middle sending two runners home giving the home team the win. He also picked up the win by pitching the final two frames of the game, striking out two. For the week, he hit .389 on seven-for-18 with two runs and five RBI.
Player, Aw Get It
Jackson Hannon had an amazing final regular-season week of his senior season. He hit a team best .500 for the week with eight hits; four of which went for extra bases. He hit a solo home run, three doubles, scored four runs and collected four RBI. His slugging percentage was .875. For his efforts, Hannon was named the South Carolina Education Lottery Student-Athlete of the Month.
Razor Sharp
Josh Sharp went five-for-12 for the week hitting .417, scoring three runs and collecting three RBI. He was also perfect on steals swiping all three bases attempted. In the final game of the season, with two away, he singled up the middle to start the rally that would bring the Pacers from behind and seal the win.
Inside The Numbers
Since moving to Division II, the Pacers are 156-110 (58.6 percent) in Friday contests, 356-241 (58.6 percent) in Saturday matchups and 215-156 (58 percent) on Sundays. During the same time, the team is 3-2 on May 5, 4-1 on May 6 and 6-1 on May 7.
Against The Opponents
After the 1-2 weekend, the Pacers are now 50-32 against the Lander Bearcats including 3-4 at neutral sites.
Against the other two teams on USC Aiken's side of the bracket, the Pacers are 27-19 when facing North Georgia with a 2-1 record at neutral sites. This season, the Pacers were 2-1 against the Nighthawks in Dahlonega, Ga. Against the host, USC Aiken is 18-10 versus the Young Harris Mountain Lions with a 4-5 away record. This season, the Pacers were 1-2 against them at home.
