Aiken, SC – The 22nd ranked Flying Fleet scored five runs in the first inning and held off a late Pacer rally to take a 7-5 victory over 19th ranked USC-Aiken Friday night at Roberto Hernandez Stadium.

Senior Chas Anthony (Pickens, SC, Pickens High School) would put Erskine on the board with a one out solo home run in the top of the first. The Fleet would get three straight singles from Bryan Fogle (Lexington, SC, Lexington High School), John Bolding (Pickens, SC, Pickens HS), and Drew Willingham (Greenwood, SC, Greenwood HS) to push their lead to 2-0. Zach McCarthy (Spartanburg, SC, Byrnes HS) would then single to right field, and the Pacer right fielder would miss play the ball allowing all three runners to score to make it a 5-0 game.

In the top of the third, Willingham would blast a solo home run to left field to push the Erskine lead to 6-0, but the Pacers would score two runs in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to four. Trailing 6-3 in the seventh, the Pacers would score two runs to make it a 6-5 game, with the tying run on third base with two outs. Atlee Pearson (Duncan, SC, Byrnes HS) would come into the game and strike out the first batter he faced to get the Fleet out of the jam. Willingham would then give Erskine some breathing room with his second home run of the game, giving the Fleet a 7-5 lead. Pearson would pitch a perfect final two innings to preserve the win and pick up his 14th save of the season.

After missing the last month, Willingham came back and led the Fleet going 3-4 with two home runs and three RBI’s in the win. McCarthy was also 3-4 with a double and one RBI, while Anthony, Fogle, and Bolding each added a hit.

William Buzhardt (Columbia, SC, Ben Lippen High School) (12-2) picked up the win allowing five runs on 10 hits in 6.2 innings of work while striking out seven. With the win, he breaks the school records in single season wins (12) and career wins (33).

The two teams will play again on Saturday in Due West, with the game starting at 2:00 pm.

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