March 11, 2007
AUBURN, Ala. -
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No. 13 Auburn jumped on top of Purdue with three runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back in rolling to a 12-6 win on Sunday, its sixth-straight win and a 17-2 record. Sophomore Evan Crawford picked up the win for Auburn, going 5.1 innings and allowing just two runs.
The Tigers' three runs in the first came on a Josh Donaldson (1-for-3, R, RBI, SB) sac fly to right, a Robert Brooks (2-for-3, R, 2 RBI, 2 SB) single to right and Andy Bennett's (1-for-4, 2 RBI) RBI groundout to first. After scoring the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth on Friday, Auburn did not trail Purdue for the rest of the series and outscored the Boilermakers 23-6 over the final two games.
"We jumped right out and put a three-spot on the board in the bottom of the first and I thought that was key," AU Head Coach Tom Slater said.
Given a three-run lead after one, Crawford had one of his better outings of the year, striking out three and allowing just the two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks to move to 3-0 on the season.
"I felt better about this outing than the rest and they guys gave me a nice lead and all I had to do was throw strikes from that point on," Crawford said.
The Tigers put the game out of reach in the fourth with six runs on three hits, a walk, a hit-by-pitch and four Purdue errors, sending 10 batters to the plate and stranding just one.
Ten different Auburn hitters recorded hits on the day with Ben Jones (2-for-4, R, RBI), Brooks and Bianucci (2-for-3, 3 R, RBI, SB) all recording multi-hit days for the Tigers. Of the 13 Auburn hits, 12 of them were singles with Bianucci providing the only extra-base hit of the day for Auburn, a solo home run in the eighth off an ad panel on the scoreboard in left-center.
"We are always trying to hit line-drives to the middle of the field and when we do that we are going to have good days offensively, like we did today," Slater said. "Up and down the lineup we had good at-bats all the way around."
Purdue (4-5) starter Tony Sedlmeyer (1-2) took the loss for the Boilermakers, allowing six runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk in 3.1 innings.
The Tigers complete their season-long 10-game homestand with a pair of games against VMI. The two teams will play at 6pm CT on both Tuesday and Wednesday in Auburn's final games prior to the start of the SEC season.
GAME NOTES
Ben Jones made his first career start in the field, starting in right ... Bianucci's home run was his sixth of the year and 14th of his career ... Crawford is now 8-8 in his career ... Auburn is 17-2 for the first time since the 1999 campaign ... The Tigers stole five bases in the game, the most since stealing six against VMI in the second game of the 2006 season.