March 27, 2007
MACON, Ga. -
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Mike Bianucci went 3-for-5 with a home run and four runs batted in and also nailed two Mercer base runners trying to score from second on singles to left as Auburn traveled to Mercer for the first time in 30 years and came out a 5-1 winner on Tuesday night.
"I thought I had to pick it up behind Josh Donaldson tonight because he wasn't getting pitches to hit and I was able to do that," Bianucci said.
Bianucci got Auburn (19-9) on the board in the first with an RBI single that scored Robert Brooks and kept it a 1-0 game in the bottom of the frame as he threw out Josh Thompson trying to score from second on Mike Armstrong's single, the third guy he has nailed at the plate this season. He then threw out Casey Stewart trying to score from second on another single to left to end the second and keep it a 1-0 game.
"Mike has a cannon of an arm and threw both of those balls on a line," AU Head Coach Tom Slater said.
Mercer (18-11) tied it at 1-1 in the fourth on Stewart's double down the line in left only to see Auburn take a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth as Bianucci singled home Bruce Edwards from second with one down and Joseph Sanders' bases-loaded sacrifice fly to deep center scored Josh Donaldson.
Bianucci then extended the lead to 5-1 with his seventh homer of the season, a two-run blast to left with one down in the seventh.
Taylor Thompson moved to 3-0 on the year with a career-long 6.0 innings pitched, allowing just a single run.
"Taylor threw the ball extremely well tonight, He went out there and really did a great job for us. That is a great quality start for Taylor," Slater said.
Jason Lowey (0-1) took the loss for Mercer, allowing two runs in 2.1 innings out of the pen.
Auburn returns to the Plains for a three-game weekend set against No. 13 Ole Miss. Game times for the weekend are 6pm CT on Friday, 2pm on Saturday and 1:30pm on Sunday.