AIKEN, S.C. – The No. 22 USCA baseball team lost a hard fought 4-2 contest to Columbus State Sunday afternoon in 12 innings.
The Pacers are now 16-6 on the season, including 6-3 in PBC play. The Cougars stand at 11-8 overall and 6-3 against conference foes.
Head coach
Keith Gorman's team took a 1-0 lead in the third stanza. With one down,
Johann Rodriguez and
Maverick Grigsby reached on back-to-back errors.
Ryan Becker promptly knocked a double to left field, plating Rodriguez.
The Cougars responded with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth via a round-tripper.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the ninth.
Evan Harding entered as a pinch hitter and drew a walk.
Cannon Jones entered as a pinch runner and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from
Osmin Melendez. Two batters later,
Salvatore Laimo singled to left field, plating Jones while tying the game at 2-2.
In the bottom of the 10
th, Rodriguez drew a one-out walk and
Maverick Grigsby was hit by a pitch. However, USCA was unable to push across a run in the stanza.
CSU scored two runs in the 12
th for a 4-2 advantage.
For the game, Laimo posted two hits while Becker notched a double and
Osmin Melendez tallied a hit. Becker and Laimo each drove in one.
On the mound,
Kerry Herndon-Brown got the start and worked a scoreless frame.
Myles Chabi worked four frames and had two strikeouts.
CJ Lincoln threw 6.1 innings with three strikeouts.
Will Eichler tossed the final two-thirds of an inning.
The Pacers return to action Wednesday at No. 10 Lenoir-Rhyne at 6 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.
