April 13, 2008
AUBURN, Ala. -
For the third time in as many games, Auburn had the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning but for the third time, Auburn was unable to finish the job as Auburn fell to No. 10 South Carolina, 7-6, on Sunday afternoon. The loss dropped Auburn's record to 22-15, 6-9 SEC while South Carolina is now 25-10, 9-6 SEC.
"It's disappointing to lose any games and getting swept at home is no fun, whatsoever. Credit South Carolina, every time we made a mistake on the mound they hammered it and every time we made is mistake defensively they capitalized on it," Auburn Head Coach Tom Slater said. "Our offense has shown time-and-time again that we are going to give ourselves chances to win games and we have done that continually throughout the season."
Trailing 7-3 heading to the bottom of the ninth, Hunter Morris (2-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI) brought Auburn to within a run with his team-leading eighth home run of the year, a three-run blast to right. Joseph Sanders (1-for-1) had stroked a one-out single to right and Mike Bianucci (0-for-4, BB) walked before Morris' shot, which gave him 12 RBI in his last five games and his fourth straight two-hit game.
Brian Fletcher (1-for-2, 3B, 3 BB, R, RBI) then reached on an error, bringing the winning run to the plate but USC closer Brandon Todd got Ben Jones (1-for-5, RBI) to strike out swinging and induced a groundout from pinch hitter Kevin Patterson to end the game and earn his fourth save of the season.
The two teams traded solo home runs in the first with Havey Lail (1-for-5) hitting one over the monster in left and Trent Mummey (2-for-5, 2B, HR) hitting one to the scoreboard in left-center.
South Carolina added a run in the third on when Reese Havens (2-for-3, 2 R) scored after an Auburn throwing error by Matt Hall only to have Auburn respond with two in the bottom of the fourth as Fletcher's triple scored Morris and Jones' single plated Fletcher to give Auburn a 3-2 lead.
South Carolina tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth on Kyle Enders' (2-for-5) RBI double that knocked out Auburn starter Bradley Hendrix after 5.1 innings. The freshman righty did not factor into the final decision, allowing three runs on seven hits and three walks, striking out three.
South Carolina recaptured the lead in the seventh as Phil Disher (1-for-4, RBI) doubled in a run and James Darnell (2-for-5, 2B) scored on a wild pitch to make it a 5-3 game.
South Carolina added solo runs in the eighth and ninth on a Darnell RBI double and Whit Merrifield's (0-for-4) sacrifice fly to make it 7-3 before Auburn's ninth-inning comeback came up a run short.
Four of Auburn's five relievers allowed a single run to South Carolina, with Scott Shuman (2-2) taking the loss after allowing the go-ahead run in the seventh.
Blake Cooper (4-3) earned the win for South Carolina, tossing 6.2 innings and allowing three Auburn runs on nine hits and two walks, striking out three.
Auburn's Hall had his career-best 17 game hitting streak snapped with a 0-for-4 afternoon.
Auburn resumes non-conference action on Wednesday at 6pm CT when it plays host to South Alabama at Plainsman Park.