March 16, 2007
ATHENS, Ga. -
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Georgia turned leadoff walks into single runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings to steal a victory away from No. 10 Auburn, 4-3, on Friday night at Foley Field.
Auburn (18-4, 0-1 SEC) out-hit Georgia, 12-6, but the Bulldogs capitalized on their limited opportunities, scoring their runs on a groundout, a single, a sac fly and a walk, respectively.
"Georgia took advantage of its opportunities," AU Head Coach Tom Slater said. "We swung the bats fairly well and played a good game but this is a disappointing loss."
Auburn jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third when Luke Greinke (1-for-4, BB, RBI) singled home Eric Skinner (1-for-4, R) and Josh Donaldson (2-for-5, RBI) singled home Bruce Edwards (2-for-5, R), both coming with two down in the inning.
Georgia (6-11, 1-0 SEC) got a run back in the bottom of the inning on Jonathan Wyatt's RBI groundout only to have Auburn respond with a run in the next frame when Skinner fouled out to UGA first baseman Luke Stewart down the right field line with the bases loaded. Stewart made a great catch down by the home bullpen but had his back to the field of play, allowing Ross Smith (1-for-4, R) to race home from third to give Auburn a 3-1 lead.
Georgia cut the lead to one when Wyatt (0-for-2, 2 BB, SF, 2 RBI, R) scored on Matt Olson's single in the sixth and then tied the game up on Wyatt's sacrifice fly to center in the seventh.
Mike Freeman led off Georgia's half of the ninth with a walk and avoided a tag at second on a stolen base attempt, prompting Auburn to intentionally walk Wyatt. After a Ryan Peisel groundout put runners on second and third with one down, Auburn intentionally walked Gordon Beckham to load the bases. Olson then drew a five-pitch walk to end the game.
Scott Shuman (4-1) took the loss for Auburn, allowing one run on four walks (two intentional passes) in 1.0 innings of work.
Joshua Fields (1-3) earned the win in relief for Georgia, going 2.0 innings and allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three.
The loss spoiled a solid outing by Auburn starter Bryan Woodall, who gave up two runs on three hits and two walks in 5.0 innings.
The two teams will play the second game of the three-game set on Saturday at 2pm ET.
GAME NOTES
All of Auburn's hits were singles ... Tigers have collected just five extra-base hits in their last four games while pounding out 45 total hits ... Auburn has dropped 11 straight SEC games dating back to the 2006 season ... Josh Donaldson extended his hitting streak to a career-best-tying nine games.