USC Aiken Splits Conference Twinbill with Georgia College & State
MILLEDGEVILLE, GA. – The USC Aiken softball team split a pair of Peach Belt Conference games with the Bobcats of Georgia College and State on Wednesday afternoon at the Peeler Complex. The Pacers dropped the first game 7-3 to the Bobcats but bounced back to claim the second game 13-4 in just six innings. USC Aiken was spurred on in the second game by 13 hits.
Georgia College and State moves to 11-24 overall and 3-7 in the PBC for the season.
USC Aiken improves to 14-17 overall and 6-8 in the conference for the 2010 campaign.
Georgia College was able to capitalize on three two-run innings to slide past USC Aiken for the win in game one. The Bobcats out-hit the Pacers 12-5 in the first game of the doubleheader.
Brandy Bossle (North East, Md./Rising Sun) crossed the plate twice for USC Aiken, but no Pacer was able to secure multiple hits in the first game.
Georgia College took the lead in the bottom of the second inning after entering down 2-1. They never looked back.
Haley Burnett was able to gain the win for the Bobcats in just over three innings of work. She moves to 8-11 on the season.
Kathleen Nichols (Orange City, Fla./Daytona Beach) took the loss for the Pacers in the circle, pitching all six innings. She falls to 1-7 for the season.
The Pacers took complete control of the second game with four starters garnering multiple hits and nine different runners crossing the plate. USC Aiken out-hit the Bobcats 13-6 and claimed the victory in just six innings.
The Pacers opened the game with a five-run streak in the first two innings and were able to garner two big, multi-hit innings.
Already up 1-0 going into the second inning Blair Warren (Darlington, S.C./Florence-Darlington Tech) crossed the plate when Whitney Clary (Newberry, S.C./Newberry HS) put a ball into play that saw Nikki Sidaway (Wiley Ford, W.Va./Potomac State) thrown out at second base.
Bossle and Lauren Locklear (Charleston, S.C./Wando) were able to capitalize on multiple runners on the bases by driving Nicole Borden (Jacksonville, Fla./Bolles School) and Clary home in the next two at-bats to put the Pacers up 4-0.
Bossle punctuated the long scoring drive for the Pacers by stealing home a few moments later.
The Bobcats were able to avoid the shutout in the bottom of the second inning when Burnett hit a home run to put Georgia College on the board at 5-1.
The Pacers extended their lead in the top of the third inning with two more runs when freshman Haley Justice (North Augusta, S.C./Midland Valley), pinch running for Toni Flessate, and Warren both crossed the dish putting USC Aiken up 7-1.
Georgia College appeared to gain new life in the bottom of the fourth when they were able to garner three more runs, but the Pacers would deny all attempts made by the Bobcats over the closing moments of the game.
The Pacers were able to put the game away in the top of the sixth inning scoring six runs on six hits. Sidaway got things started for the Pacers when she scored off the bat of Bossle who singled up the middle.
Clary scored a few moments later off a wild pitch shortly followed by Bossle.
After a pitching change by Georgia College, Locklear and Kelley King (Chesterfield, S.C./Chesterfield) both crossed the dish as the Pacer bats continued to stay hot.
Lindsey Jones (North Augusta, S.C./North Augusta) capped the final scoring drive of the afternoon for the Pacers by crossing the plate when Borden laced a ball up the middle to put the game well out of reach for the Bobcats.
Locklear led the Pacers at the plate in the second game going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Bossle, Borden and Sidaway all added two hits of their own to spur the Pacer charge.
Kristi Rodriguez took the loss for the Bobcats giving up four hits and five runs. She falls to 3-6 on the season.
Flessate (Goose Creek, S.C./Stratford) garnered the road-win in the circle for the Pacers. She improves to an even 7-7 on the 2010 campaign.
The Pacers will close out their foray in Georgia this weekend with a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader against the Cougars of Columbus State on Saturday, Mar. 27 in Columbus, Ga. The first game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. with the second game to follow immediately after at around 4 p.m.
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