GREENWOOD – The No. 12 USC Aiken Pacers erupted for nine two-out runs in the eighth and defeated the Lander Bearcats 11-3 in a Peach Belt Conference game Friday night at Legion Field.
The score was tied at 2-all with two outs in the top of the eighth when nine consecutive Aiken hitters reached base on four hits, three errors and two walks.
The Pacers improved to 36-10 overall and 12-7 in the Peach Belt while Lander fell to 26-17 and 8-11. The two teams will play a PBC double-header on Saturday.
Peden Rucker (8-3) went the distance on the mound for Aiken, giving up three runs on 10 hits while walking three and striking out six. His battery mate Robert Davis led the Pacers at the plate, going 4-for-6 with three RBI.
The Pacers took a 1-0 lead in the third when Zach Cooper doubled into the left-field corner, moved to third on Casey Derhak's ground out, and scored on a two-out bloop single to short left field by Davis.
Aiken added a run in the fifth when Cooper singled, moved to third on Derhak's hit-and-run single to right, and scored on another RBI hit by Davis.
Lander scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 2. After Radley Raven singled and Malcolm McLeod walked, Kevin Jones hit an RBI single to end Rucker's shutout bid. Jonathan Myers drilled an RBI double into the left-field corner to deliver the tying run. Pacers shortstop Marc Joehnk made a relay throw home to cut down the go-ahead run Jones at the plate.
The Pacers broke away in the top of the eighth after Ian Kowalchuk and Montoya Young chased Lander starter Derek Wilson with back-to-back one-out singles. Brad Hay relieved and got the second out of the inning. But he walked Cooper and Derhak hit a two-run single past diving second baseman Jones to give Aiken a 4-2 lead. Davis hit an RBI single, pinch hitter Michael Wadowski reached on an error to load the bases, and Darryl Pui hit a two-run single to make it 7-2. Steven Kinney reached on an error to score another run. That was followed by a two-run error and an RBI single by Joehnk to make it 11-2.
For Aiken, Cooper was 3-for-5 with three runs scored, Derhak and Pui were each 2-for-6 with two RBI, and Kowalchuk was 2-for-2.
McLeod led Lander, going 3-for-3.
Wilson (3-3) took the loss for the Bearcats, allowing four runs on 11 hits in 7.1 innings of work. He walked two and struck out one. Hay allowed seven runs, only one earned, on four hits in two-thirds of an inning. Matt Conyers pitched a scoreless ninth.
