AIKEN, S.C.--USC Aiken head baseball coach Kenny Thomas announced the Pacers 2006 schedule on Monday afternoon. The challenging slate will feature 40 of 56 games being played at Roberto Hernandez Stadium as well as 27 Peach Belt Conference contests. The revival of the PBC Tournament after an eight-year hiatus will make its return at Hernandez Stadium as the Pacers will serve as the host.

The Pacers open the season with a 12-game home stand highlighted by a trio of three-game series with Lincoln Memorial, Pfeiffer, and Catawba. USCA will open play in the new-look Peach Belt Conference on the final weekend in February when they travel to Spartanburg, S.C. for a match-up with rival USC Upstate.

This year features a PBC without perennial powers North Florida and Kennesaw State, both having departed for Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference. Also, North Georgia, a former NAIA power, begins their first year in the league.

USCA will host an 11-game mid-season home stand starting March 7 with Claflin University. After two conference series on the road, the Pacers will finally open up PBC play at home by welcoming Georgia College & State University to town on March 10-11.

Closing out the regular season with eight-straight at the friendly confines will be highlighted by three-game PBC series with Francis Marion and Armstrong Atlantic State.

The Pacers were 32-8 at home last season (.800) and are 59-22 (.728) since Hernandez Stadium opened two years ago.

USC Aiken finished the 2005 season 40-19 including a 16-14 conference mark. The fourth place finish in the PBC was the best in a decade as the Pacers advanced to the program’s third NCAA South Atlantic Regional appearance, but first in a dozen years. With a win over Francis Marion at the NCAA Regional, USCA notched the program’s eighth 40-win season in 33 years, but first since 1993.

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