No. 19 Pacers Ride Two-Run Rally in Eighth Inning to Dismount Crusaders
AIKEN, S.C. – A near record crowd of Pacer faithful came out in droves to attend “Pack the Park Day” at the ‘Bert and cheer on the nationally-ranked Pacers as they defeated the Crusaders of Belmont Abbey 6-4 on Sunday afternoon.
With the 6-4 win over the Crusaders, USC Aiken advances their record to 31-16 for the 2010 season. Belmont Abbey falls to 18-25 for the season.
The game went scoreless into the fifth inning before Belmont Abbey garnered the first run of the game off a single to right field by Justin Baxley to score Ryan Ronda.
Bill Rice (Sewell, N.J./Gloucester County) secured the Pacers’ first lead of the game with a two-run home run over the right field wall in the bottom of the fifth inning. Stephen Carmon (Camden, S.C./Camden) put himself in scoring position for Rice with a double to the far left side of left field to lead off the bottom half of the inning.
Nick Aranas garnered his second double of the game to put himself in scoring position for slugger Travis Howard. Howard (Bonneau, S.C./USC Salkehatchie) secured the RBI when he singled up the middle to score Aranas (Lexington, S.C./Lexington) and put the Pacers up 3-1.
The Crusaders were able to tie things up in the top of the sixth inning with two runs as Danny Brion took one for the team when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Roberto Sanchez. Ronda then sent a sacrifice fly to right field to score Dye, tying the game at three each.
Belmont Abbey reacquired the lead in the top of the eighth inning when Matt Mazzolla pinch hit for Belmont Abbey, scoring Gabby Amor with a shot to centerfield.
USC Aiken was able to overtake the Crusaders in the bottom of the inning for the second time on the afternoon as three Pacers crossed the dish. David Vitko led the Pacer charge when he hit a single to the gap between right and center field to get on base and then advanced to second off a hit up the middle by Gary Asbill.
After Josh Miller (Chapin, S.C./Chapin) came in to pinch run for Asbill (Batesburg, S.C./Batesburg-Leesville), Matt Key (New Ellenton, S.C./Silver Bluff) ripped a shot up the right side to score Vitko (Columbiana, Ohio/Youngstown State) and advance Miller all the way to third base.
Miller and Key did not remain on base long as both scored off a double off the right field wall by Carmon to put the final score at 6-4.
Four players garnered multiple hit outings for USC Aiken in the contest with Rice and Asbill leading all Pacers going 2-for-3 at the plate. Rice added two RBIs and a run to his afternoon total. Carmon and Aranas were the other two Pacers with multiple hits as they both went 2-for-5 at the dish with one run each. Carmon added two RBIs of his own, including the game-winning double in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Eight Crusaders earned at least one hit in the contest as Brion led Belmont Abbey at the plate going 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Tyler Stephan (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) earned his fifth win of the season on the hill for the Pacers. He is now 5-1 in the 2010 campaign.
Tyler Powell took the loss on the mound for Belmont Abbey after pitching seven solid innings. He is now 4-6 for the 2010 year.
USC Aiken will look to close out their regular season with a pair of games against Catawba on Friday, Apr. 30 and Saturday, May 1 at Roberto Hernandez Stadium. Friday’s game is slated to commence at 7 p.m. while Saturday’s game will begin promptly at 4 p.m.
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