CARY, N.C. -- Trevor Pence struck out 10 batters and only gave up three hits in seven innings of work to power William Peace over Southern Virginia, 3-2, on Friday night. The Pacers' open the season 1-0 for the second time in program history.

"It felt great to start the season off with a win," head coach Chris Duty said. "Trevor was pitching great for us and we were able to chain a few hits together to score some runs early. Trevor really helped us out by never really giving them a chance to put the ball in play. He pitched extremely well tonight."

Pence allowed two of his three hits in the first inning and gave up a run, but he was lights out from that point on. Pence was commanding his pitches well and only allowed four runners on base in his final six innings.

Although the Pacers found themselves trailing before they even got a chance to bat, it wasn't long before the Pacers flipped the scoreboard. After two straight outs, Alec Allred singled, followed by three straight two-out singles by Alex Scott, Mikey Anerton, and Will Cunningham. Allred and Scott scored on the consecutive singles to give the Pacers a 2-1 edge after the first.

The Pacers would leave a few men stranded the following innings, but Tyler Tilson opened up the bottom of the fourth with a home run over right center, which turned out to be the game-winning run. Tilson connected well on the pitch and everyone in the stadium knew that ball was not coming back into play. The Pacers wouldn't score again, but the bats were still chirping with scattered hits throughout the game.

The Knights would score a run in the top of the eighth, but Luke Westmoreland shut them down in the ninth to earn a save.

The Pacers took the first game of the three game series tonight at 3-2. The final two games will be played tomorrow at noon and approximately 3 p.m. A live stream of the games will be available.