April 1, 2006
AUBURN, Ala. -
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The Auburn pitching staff held the Kentucky offense to just one run on three hits and the AU offense put up five runs on 11 hits as the Tigers defeated the 20th-ranked Wildcats, 5-1, on Saturday afternoon at Plainsman Park.
"I thought our kids showed a lot of character, toughness and resiliency in bouncing back and playing the way they did after an extremely tough loss last night," AU Head Coach Tom Slater said. "Kentucky is a good hitting club. All of our guys that threw tonight did a good job."
Freshman pitcher Evan Crawford again looked stellar on the mound for the Tigers, surrendering just two base hits and one run while striking out five to move to 3-4 on the season.
"Evan pitched well and got us through five. (Bryan) Woodall comes in and does a great job in the middle of the game and then Johnny Thompson, the last two innings, was really impressive in the way he ran through their left handed hitters in the eighth. That was really the ballgame."
Auburn put three on the board in the bottom of the fourth and made the lead standup. Jeff Boutwell (1-for-3) and Mike Bianucci (2-for-3) both singled to lead off the inning. Josh Donaldson (1-for-4) then laid down a perfectly placed bunt, loading the bases. Ryan Stanley (1-for-4) then dribbled a ball to the second baseman to score Boutwell. Luke Greinke (1-for-2, 2 RBI) then put a charge in the ball, singling up the middle to score both Bianucci and Donaldson.
Auburn's bullpen made the score stand up as Woodall, who was the first man out of the pen, did not allow a hit in two innings. Johnny Thompson closed things out for his second save of the season as he allowed just one hit while striking out three in two full innings of work.
The win moved Auburn to 13-17, 2-6 SEC on the year. Kentucky is now 22-6, 5-3 SEC.
UK's Craig Snipp was handed his first loss of the season as he allowed all five runs on 10 hits.
The Tigers will attempt to win their first SEC series of the season on Sunday as junior righty Chris Dennis (1-2) counters UK's Greg Dombrowski (5-0) on the mound. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. CT.