Franklin’s Homer Leads Pacers Past Anderson

AIKEN, S.C. – Alex Franklin broke open a tie ball game with a three-run home run to left field in the bottom of the sixth inning to lead USC Aiken to a 12-9 victory over Anderson on Thursday evening at Roberto Hernandez Stadium.

The win is the fourth straight for the Pacers, who have now won 10 of their last 12 contests. The Pacers are presently six games over .500 at 19-13 on the 2009 season.

The victory on Thursday also gave USC Aiken a two-game midweek sweep of the Trojans. The Pacers have now claimed four consecutive two-game series sweeps at Roberto Hernandez. The streak dates back to a two-game sweep of Shippensburg on the last day of February. Since that point the Pacers have downed Chowan, Augusta State and Anderson in two-game sets at the ‘Bert.

The loss dropped Anderson to 16-19 on the year. The Trojans, who were ranked earlier this season and until just two and a half weeks ago were 16-9, have lost their last 10 outings.

Franklin (North Augusta, S.C./North Augusta) was 1-for-3 from the dish in total in the win over Anderson on Thursday, securing the three RBIs on his second tater of the year. He also scored two runs.

USC Aiken had just two players acquire multiple hits in the game with Cody McMorris (Canton, Ga./Southern Union CC) and reigning Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Week Stephen Carmon (Camden, S.C./Camden) both collecting two hits each on Thursday. McMorris scored three runs and obtained one RBI, while Carmon had a run and an RBI.

B.J. Smith led the Trojan effort at the plate, picking up three hits and an RBI. He also scored two runs.

The Pacers finished with two less hits than the Trojans in total in the game with Anderson out-hitting USC Aiken 12-10. Nevertheless, USC Aiken opportunistically pilfered a season single game-high nine bases.

McMorris and Carmon led the way. McMorris swiped three bases in the contest, while Carmon ended the contest with two stolen bases. In total, six Pacers stole a base on Thursday.

Tyler Stephan (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) improved to 3-2 on the 2009 campaign with his win from the hill. Stephan dealt an inning and two-thirds in relief of Pacer starter Jonathan Bolt (Anderson, S.C./TL Hanna), who pitched the first four innings of the contest.

Stephan allowed just one hit and struck out two.

Anderson sophomore reliever Justin Rogers was saddled with the loss in relief of starter Luis Martinez, who left after four innings as well. Rogers pitched just one inning, but he gave up three earned runs and three hits. The loss dropped Rogers to 2-1 on the year.

The four mentioned above were four of 11 pitchers utilized by both coaching staffs in the game. USC Aiken brought six different hurlers to the mound on Thursday.

The game began with Anderson posting two runs in the top half of the first stanza. USC Aiken would not let the lead last though as the Pacers scored two of their own in the bottom half of the frame to square the game at 2-2.

Ken Raborn (Evans, Ga./Evans) notched both of the RBIs in the inning on a single up the middle that plated Franklin and McMorris.

After two scoreless innings next, the game would once again for the second straight night change dramatically in the Pacers favor in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

The Pacers would not quite acquire the 13 runs that they obtained the night before in the frames, but USC Aiken nevertheless scored eight runs in the three-inning stretch to go on top 10-7. Throw in a two-spot in the bottom of the seventh and the Pacers walked away with the three-run win.

The Pacers took the lead away from the Trojans in the bottom of the sixth. The score 7-6 in Anderson’s favor, USC Aiken plated four runs to take the 10-7 lead. McMorris singled in Chris Grandinetti (Broomfield, Colo./Broomfield) to tie the game at 7-7. Franklin then belted Rogers’ offering to left field to give the Pacers the game-winning runs.

USC Aiken will next try and claim its third consecutive Peach Belt Conference series victory against defending league champion Columbus State in Columbus, Ga. The three-game set will begin with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 28.

The three-game set will conclude with a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday, March 28.