COLUMBUS, Ga. --- Joe Marlow pitched a nine-inning complete game in leading fourth-seeded USC Aiken to a 2-1 victory over No. 5 seed Tusculum College Thursday in the opening game of the 2016 NCAA Division II Southeast Region Championship. The seven-team, double-elimination tournament is being held at Burger King Stadium and hosted by Columbus State University
The Pacers (38-16) advance to Friday's second round game against No. 1 seed Columbus State at 3 p.m. Tusculum (36-17) drops to Saturday's 3 p.m. elimination game where they will face an opponent yet to be determined.
Tusculum, who had its three-game winning streak ended, pounded out 11 hits on the day and drew a pair of walks, but could not take advantage as they left 11 runners aboard.
It was a pitcher's duel through the first five innings between Marlow and Tusculum starter Zach Slagle.
TC left two runners on base in each of the first two innings. In the third frame, the Pioneers mustered three consecutive singles to start the inning. On Nick Lacina's singles, Zack Finchum took a wide turn rounding third, but slipped on the wet grass and was thrown out going to the bag.
Tusculum catcher Jim Tolle salvaged the frame with his two-out single to drive in Kevin Victoriano from second base and a 1-0 TC lead.
Meanwhile, Slagle limited the 19th-ranked Pacers to a first inning single. He got some solid defensive play behind him, especially in the third inning. After giving up a lead-off walk to Jonathan Banks, Finchum turned a double play for the first two outs of the inning. Chaz Pal made a bid for extra bases with his deep fly ball to center field, but TC's J.J. Wesley made a spectacular catch at the wall to end the inning.
In the sixth inning, Pal lined a one-out double down the left field line, his 16th two-base hit of the season. Moon laced a single to left field to drive in Pal with the tying run. Max Schoen and Brian Parreira hit back-to-back singles to load the bases.
Slagle was relieved by 2015 All-Region pitcher Devan Watts. Watts struck out Mercado for the second out of the inning. But during Nile Goings' at-bat, Zach Moon scored the go-ahead run from third on a wild pitch. Watts ended the inning with a strikeout of Goings.
Marlow retired the Pioneers in order in the seventh and worked around a two-single by John Topoleski in the eighth.
In the ninth inning, J.J. Wesley lined a one-out single up the middle to put the tying run on base. But Marlow struck out Finchum and got Victoriano to fly out to end the game.
Marlow improves to 10-2 on the season as he scattered 11 hits, walked two and struck out four in his 119-pitch performance. For Marlow, it was his first complete game of the year.
Slagle (7-1) suffered the loss as he went 5.1 innings, allowed five hits, two runs, four walks and four strikeouts in his 91-pitch effort. Watts tossed the final 2.2 innings, scattered two hits, with one walk and four strikeouts.
Nick Lacina, Finchum and Wesley all finished with two hits each for the Pioneers. Topoleski accounted for a hit and his 12th sacrifice bunt of the season, which is tied for the fifth most in Tusculum history.
Tusculum is making its seventh NCAA postseason appearance, which are the second-most of any South Atlantic Conference member.
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