March 6, 2008
Auburn, Ala. -
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Grant Dayton seemed unfazed with the task of making his first collegiate start as the redshirt-freshman struckout an Auburn season-high eight hitters as Auburn rolled to a 9-2 win over VMI in the opening game of a four-game set on Thursday night at Plainsman Park.
Dayton (1-0), who had made two relief appearances without surrendering a run before Thursday night's outing, was lights-out from the get-go, scattering three hits through the first five innings. Of the six hits he surrendered in his 6.0 innings on the night, five went for singles as Auburn improved to 7-4 on the year.
"Grant really pitched well. Throwing strikes is the name of the game and he certainly did that tonight," Auburn Head Coach Tom Slater said.
Dayton worked with a significant cushion from the second inning on as Auburn racked up six runs on three hits, three walks and an error in the bottom of the first. Luke Greinke (1-for-3, 2B) led off the game with a double and Justin Hargett (1-for-3), Hunter Morris (2-for-3, 2B, 2 R) and Brian Fletcher (1-for-2, 2B) all drew walks in the inning. Mike Bianucci (0-for-2, 2 RBI) reached on an error and Joseph Sanders (1-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI) and Kevin Patterson (1-for-4, 2 RBI) each stroked RBI hits in the inning as Auburn sent seven men to the plate before an out was recorded.
"I went out in the second with the six-run lead and I felt really comfortable out there and was able to get the job done," Dayton said. "I threw a lot of fastballs, spotted it low, and the change-up helped a lot."
Auburn added a run in the fifth on Patterson's RBI groundout before rounding out its scoring with two runs in the sixth on sacrifice flies by Greinke and Bianucci.
Auburn's pitching staff combined to strikeout 14 VMI hitters after fanning the same number of Davidson hitters on Wednesday night. Taylor Thompson fanned three in 2.0 innings and Bryan Woodall struckout three in the ninth.
Jason Farley (1-1) was tagged with the loss, allowing seven runs (five earned) on six hits in 4.0 innings as VMI dropped to 4-4 on the season.
The two teams will meet again at 6pm on Friday night as Auburn sends freshman righty Bradley Hendrix (0-0) to the mound and VMI counters with Trey Barham (1-0).