Two-Run Sixth Inning in Game One Leads Pacers to Split with Hurricanes

Game One

Game Two

AMERICUS, Ga. – USC Aiken scored twice in the top of the sixth inning in the first game of a doubleheader to earn a 2-0 victory and a doubleheader split with Peach Belt Conference foe Georgia Southwestern on Saturday afternoon. 
 
Georgia Southwestern eventually earned the twinbill split with a 1-0 victory in the second contest.
 
The 2-0 win in the first game of the doubleheader snapped an eight-game losing streak for the Pacers. The split on Saturday leaves the Pacers with a mark of 13-14 overall on the 2010 campaign. USC Aiken is now 5-7 in the Peach Belt Conference.
 
Georgia Southwestern ended Saturday’s doubleheader with a record of 12-23. The Hurricanes are now 2-10 in the PBC.
 
The score 0-0 entering the top of the sixth inning in game one, USC Aiken made sure that they acquired the win in the first game with the two runs in the frame.
 
Pinch hitter Kelley King (Chesterfield, S.C./Chesterfield) singled through the right side to get things going for the Pacers in the inning. Kellie Hair (Aiken, S.C. /Aiken Tech) was then brought in to run for King. Whitney Clary (Newberry, S.C./Newberry) then sacrificed Hair over to second base to put her in scoring position.
 
The Pacers at the top of the batting lineup after Clary’s sacrifice, Brandy Bossle (North East, Md./Rising Sun) was able to hit into an error by the Georgia Southwestern third baseman next. On the Hurricane miscue, Hair was able to take advantage and score to collect a 1-0 lead for the Pacers. The play also resulted in Bossle moving to second base.
 
Lauren Locklear (Charleston, S.C./Wando) then singled up the middle to score Bossle and acquire the 2-0 victory for the Pacers.
 
Locklear’s hit was one of just four in the game for the Pacers, but in turn Pacer starting pitcher Kathleen Nichols held the Hurricanes in check from the circle to obtain her first win on the year.
 
Nichols (Orange City, Fla. /Daytona Beach CC) pitched all seven innings, striking out five to improve to 1-5 on the year. She allowed just five scattered hits in her shutout win.
 
Mariko Nomura took the loss from the circle in the first game to fall to 5-13 on the season. She fanned five in the loss.
 
Georgia Southwestern leadoff hitter Heather Hodge was the only player in game one to record multiple hits as she was 2-for-3.
 
In the second game, neither team was able to cross the dish until the bottom of the eighth inning when Georgia Southwestern’s Megan Wilkinson singled to right centerfield to bring in Jessica Martin for the 1-0 win.
 
Martin, who was also the pitcher in the game for the Hurricanes, aided her own cause to finish the game 3-7 on the year in the circle. She struck out three in the contest.
 
USC Aiken’s Toni Flessate (Goose Creek, S.C./Stratford) suffered the loss in the second game to fall to 6-6 on the year. Flessate fanned three in the game two loss.
 
Locklear was the only Pacer to acquire multiple hits in the second game, going 2-for-4. USC Aiken in total had five hits in game two.
 
Georgia Southwestern concluded its second game victory with seven total hits with Wilkinson leading the way with two hits.
 
USC Aiken stays on the road next for a twinbill with rival Augusta State in Augusta, Ga. on Monday, March 22. The non-conference doubleheader between the two is set to begin at 2 p.m. The second game will get underway immediately following the conclusion of the first game at approximately 4 p.m.