COLUMBUS - The No. 9 Columbus State University baseball team is set to host the University of South Carolina Aiken Pacers for a huge three-game series at Burger King Stadium starting on Friday, March 17 at 5 p.m. CSU comes in with a record of 18-4 and 10-2 in the PBC. USC Aiken is on top of the conference standings with a record of 17-6 and they are undefeated in PBC play at 9-0. 

For the Cougars, they enter the game on an offensive tear as they have run-ruled their opposition in three out of their last four games. Columbus State is led by Derek Wylie who is red-hot at the plate and he is now batting over .400 for the year. The junior slugger has five homerun's in his last five games. Connor Kirley is on a hot stretch as of late and he now has 12 hits in his last eight games. The Cougars as a team are batting .316, the highest mark in the PBC.

Pitching wise for the Cougars, they are dealing with a pesky USC Aiken squad that scores six runs a ballgame. Reigning NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week, Noah Windhorst is coming of a historic no-hitter in which he struck out six batters. Noah will look to set the tone for one of the biggest series of the season. The Cougar bullpen is locked and loaded for what should be close games coming down to the wire. 

For the Pacers, they are scrappy at the plate as they are the third hardest team to strike out in the PBC and they have swiped the third most bases as they are 50 for 57 in stolen base attempts. They are led by Josh Sharp who is batting .337 on the season and Justin Byrd who leads them with three homerun's. What makes USC Aiken so dangerous is that they have a deep pitching staff that is stingy and tough to score runs off of. Joel Haney is their top arm as last year he had the Cougars number. Joel pitched a complete game shutout where he struck out 12 Cougars in nine complete innings with only giving up one hit and two walks. 

The top-two teams in the conference will start their series Friday, March 17, at Ragsdale Field in Columbus, Ga. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tickets to the games can be purchased here.