USC Aiken Baseball and WKSX 92.7 FM Continue Partnership in 2010

AIKEN, S.C. - The University of South Carolina Aiken athletic department and head baseball coach Kenny Thomas along with WKSX 92.7 FM Program Director Tony Baughman announced on Monday a continued partnership between USC Aiken baseball and the FM station.

This year the unique partnership will add another element in addition to the Coaches Show on Monday and Thursday. WKSX will be broadcasting eight Pacer baseball games. WKSX broadcast all of USC Aiken's games last season in the 2009 Peach Belt Conference Baseball Tournament along with all of the Pacer games in the 2009 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional, which was held at Roberto Hernandez Stadium.

"Oldies KSX is excited that we have renewed our partnership with USCA baseball this year," noted Baughman. "Our listeners told us they enjoyed our coverage of the Pacers' playoff action last spring, so it made perfect sense to extend that excitement this season.

"Ed Girardeau, our play-by-play guy, loves baseball and his excitement and appreciation for the complexities of the game came through during every broadcast last spring. We're delighted to have him back this season as the voice of Pacer Baseball on KSX."

All of USC Aiken's home Friday baseball games will be broadcast as part of the partnership.

"We're trying to make every Friday home game that we cover a big, big event on Oldies KSX. So we're giving away tickets to our listeners, talking up the game all week leading to the broadcast, and we're working on some other special promotions that I think our listeners and Pacer baseball fans will enjoy."

The partnership will give USC Aiken baseball the chance for Thomas to have his own show on WKSX 92.7 FM every Monday and Thursday throughout the 2010 baseball season.

WKSX 92.7 FM is an Oldies radio station located in Johnston, S.C. The station is part of the Augusta, Ga. radio market. Its primary coverage area is located on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River, meaning its main coverage area is in Aiken and Edgefield. 

The "USC Aiken Baseball Radio Show Featuring Head Coach Kenny Thomas" will be four minutes long and will run on Monday's and Thursday's at 6:30 p.m. The show will be a part of the widely popular statewide SportsTalk radio show that is a part of the South Carolina Radio Network. 

In more than 25 seasons, SportsTalk has grown to become South Carolina's No. 1 listener participation sports program with more than 22 radio stations contributing breaking news and hard hitting commentary to thousands of sports fans throughout the Palmetto State.

Phil Kornblut, Kevin McCrarey and Tom Hayes co-host SportsTalk. Kornblut is Sports Director of the South Carolina Radio Network and has been behind the SportsTalk mic since its inception. A five-time recipient of the South Caroliina Sportscaster of the Year award, Phil is well known and highly regarded for his coverage of college football and basketball recruiting.

The "USC Aiken Baseball Radio Show Featuring Head Coach Kenny Thomas" will debut at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 1. The radio show will focus primarily on recapping the previous week's games, while also looking forward to upcoming games.

The reigning Peach Belt Conference champions, the 2010 USC Aiken baseball team was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the Peach Belt Conference in a poll of the league's baseball coaches released on Tuesday, Jan. 19.

The Pacers received eight of a possible 11 first-place votes to finish at 114, just ahead of Francis Marion (111) in second place. North Georgia is third in the preseason poll followed by GCSU, Columbus State and UNC Pembroke.

USC Aiken enters the 2010 season as a top 10 preseason selection in both the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper NCAA Division II preseason poll and the Ping!Baseball NCAA Division II preseason poll. The Pacers check in at No. 9 in the Ping!Baseball preseason poll. The Pacers were slotted as the No. 6 team in the 2010 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper NCAA Division II preseason poll released in late December of 2009.

The 2010 Pacers begin their season this weekend with a three-game home series against the South Atlantic Conference's Lincoln Memorial. USC Aiken's regular season opener will be at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5 against the Railsplitters. The three-game set will conclude with 1 p.m. games on Saturday (Feb. 6) and Sunday (Feb. 7).

The Pacers' season opener on Friday, Feb. 5 will be broadcast live on WKSX.

For those unable to make it to the games as always the USC Aiken Sports Information Department has you covered. Live stats will be available for Pacer fans who are unable to attend the games. The live stats can be accessed by clicking on the live stats link at www.pacersports.com.

USC Aiken Baseball-WKSX Schedule

•          Friday, Feb. 5 - Lincoln Memorial, 4 p.m.
           Friday, Feb. 19 - Georgia Southwestern, 4 p.m.
           Tuesday, Mar. 2 - Augusta State (Outback Cup), 6 p.m.
           Friday, Mar 12 - Lander, 7 p.m.
           Saturday, April 10 - Augusta State (both games of doubleheader), 1 p.m.
           Friday, April 23 - Erskine, 7 p.m.
           Friday, April 30 - Catawba, 7 p.m.