Feb. 18, 2007
AUBURN, Ala. -
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Auburn used a three-run fifth inning to overtake UNC Greensboro and complete a three-game sweep of the Spartans with a 4-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at Plainsman Park. The win moved Auburn's record to 6-1.
As has been the case all season, the Auburn bullpen provided to be a rock behind Auburn's starting pitcher as sophomore Justin Bristow and freshman Scott Shuman combined to throw 4.0 innings of perfect baseball with three strikeouts.
"We played tremendous defense behind Evan (Crawford) and then the story of the game for me was Justin Bristow coming in and nailing down the sixth and seventh. He was outstanding. He has a great arm and he threw it right by them," Auburn Head Coach Tom Slater said. "(Scott) Shuman was as good as he's been every time out with two very solid innings to finish it off."
After falling behind 1-0 after the top of the fifth, Auburn answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to grab hold of a lead it would not relinquish. Freshman Robert Brooks (0-for-4, R) reached on an error with one out and moved to second as the errant throw from third sailed into the stands. Freshman Ross Smith (2-for-3, R, RBI) scored Brooks with a RBI single to center and then stole second. Freshman Eric Skinner (1-for-3, RBI) followed Dustin Spruill's (0-for-2, BB, R) walk with an RBI single to center and Bruce Edwards' (0-for-4, RBI) bunt allowed Spruill to score from third to make it 3-0 Auburn after five.
"When Robert got on I knew I just had to get him over to third base and my teammates would help me out but I was lucky enough to square one up and get a base hit and get him in," Smith said.
"It was nice to see us do some damage with different parts of the lineup and not rely on (Josh) Donaldson and (Mike) Bianucci," Slater said.
Auburn tacked on a run in the eighth as sophomore Ben Jones (1-for-1, R) singled to lead off the inning and scored on Bianucci's (1-for-3, RBI) sac fly to deep center, making it 4-1 Auburn.
Crawford (1-0) earned the win for Auburn, allowing an unearned run on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 5.0 innings in his first start of the season.
Shuman earned the first save of his career.
Auburn returns to the diamond on Tuesday at 3 p.m. CT for a game against Troy.
GAME NOTES
Evan Crawford is now 6-8 lifetime at Auburn ... Robert Brooks had his six-game hitting streak snapped ... Scott Shuman is the third pitcher to earn a save for Auburn this season ... Auburn's starting pitchers did not allow an earned run in 17.0 innings of work on the weekend ... Auburn is 6-1 for the first time since 2004 ... The start marks the ninth time that Auburn is 6-1 or better since 1994 ... Auburn is now 9-0 all-time against UNC Greensboro.