April 10, 2007
AUBURN, Ala. -
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The Auburn bats pounded out a season-high 22 hits with sophomore Luke Greinke providing four as Auburn defeated Mercer, 22-6, on Tuesday night at Plainsman Park. All nine starters collected at least one hit and six different Tigers scored three runs as Auburn scored its most runs since a 22-4 win over Furman on February 12, 2000.
"Our kids took a nice offensive approach to the plate tonight and did a really good job of swinging the bat," Auburn Head Coach Tom Slater said. "We did a nice job of swinging for contact and hitting line drives, and we did that throughout the game. Twenty-two hits and 22 runs is a nice offensive night."
Greinke, the starting left fielder, had three singles in the first three innings as Auburn drilled 10 singles and a double and scored 11 runs in the first three innings to effectively put the game out of reach in the early going. Greinke finished the night with four singles, three runs scored and two RBI in what was the first four-hit game of his career.
"Everyone hit the ball well today. I was just looking to get base hits up the middle and I was just happy to get the hits and keep us going," Greinke said.
The Tigers tacked on five more runs in each of the fifth and eighth innings with Dustin Spruill driving in four of those runs in the later innings on a pair of singles as part of his 2-for-5, three-run, five-RBI night.
Joseph Sanders added his second home run of the season during Auburn's five-run fifth, a line shot over the wall in left as he went 4-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored, with the hits and RBI both establishing career highs for the freshman.
Starting pitcher Evan Crawford (4-3) earned the win for Auburn, limiting Mercer to two runs on five hits.
Austin Hubbard tossed 3.0 innings of four-hit, two-run ball in relief for Auburn.
The Tigers now stand at 24-12 on the year and have gone 21-3 in non-conference play.
Mercer fell to 21-16 on the year as starter J.C. Daugherty (0-2) allowed seven runs on eight hits in 1.0 inning of work.
Auburn gets back on the road this weekend for a three-game set at No. 3 South Carolina. Game times are set for 7pm ET on Friday, 5pm on Saturday and 1:30pm on Sunday.