Feb. 10, 2007
AUBURN, Ala. -
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Junior catcher Josh Donaldson crushed a pair of home runs and drove in five runs, capped by his three-run blast to right-center in Auburn's five-run seventh inning, as the Tigers battled back from an early hole to defeat Hofstra, 11-7, on Saturday afternoon.
Donaldson (3-for-5) finished the day with a solid all-around game, adding a double to his two-homer afternoon while also throwing out two would-be base stealers and picking another off first as the Tigers moved to 2-0 on the young season.
"I have a great opportunity to hit in front of a great hitter in Mike Bianucci and he provides the protection that I need. They don't want to pitch to Mike with runners on base so I have been fortunate to get pitches to hit," Donaldson said.
Freshman Scott Shuman picked up his first collegiate victory, coming into a tie game in the sixth inning and retiring six of the seven batters he faced, including three strikeouts.
After falling behind 4-1 after one-and-a-half innings, the Auburn bats woke up, banging out four hits in a four-run third inning to take the lead at 5-4.
"Hofstra came out to play. They came out early swinging the bats and our kids responded very well," Auburn Head Coach Tom Slater said.
The game stayed that way until the top of the fifth when Hofstra scored two runs on two singles and a double to reclaim the lead at 6-5.
Auburn tied the game at 6-6 in the sixth when freshman Robert Brooks (1-for-4, 2B, R, 3 RBI) was hit by a pitch with two outs and the bases loaded.
Senior Philip Stringer (2-for-5, R) started Auburn's five-run seventh with a one-out bunt single and moved up a base as senior Bruce Edwards (1-for-4, 2 R, SB) drew a walk, prompting a Hofstra pitching change. Sophomore Luke Greinke (1-for-4, 2 R, RBI) drove in Stringer with a single to right, setting up Donaldson's second home run of the game. Sophomore Mike Bianucci (1-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI) put the finishing touches on the inning as he belted a shot just to the left of the batter's eye in dead-center for his first home run of the year.
"That was a real big seventh inning for us," Slater said. "Philip dropped down a great drag-bunt, Bruce gets on base for us, Luke hits a big single into right and then Josh Donaldson drives a ball out in right field. Whenever Josh is hitting the ball to right-center you know he is locked in."
Reliever Anthony Sarno (0-1) took the loss for Hofstra (0-2).
Sophomore Justin Bristow (4.1 IP, 10 H, 6 R, BB, 2 SO) made his first start on the mound for the Tigers but did not factor in the decision.
The two teams play the final game of the series on Sunday with the first pitch scheduled for 1:30 pm CT.
GAME NOTES
Auburn is now 11-0 all-time against Hofstra ... Donaldson's third-inning home run put him in elite company as he became just the fourth Tiger since 1993 to hit two home runs in the first two games of the season ... The other three are Tim Hudson (1996), Dominic Rich (2000) and Karl Amonite (2005) ... Auburn has outscored Hofstra 13-0 in the seventh inning of the series ... For the second straight game Auburn has gotten at least one hit out of seven-or-more of its position starters.