April 22, 2008
AUBURN, Ala. -
Samford gave Auburn 16 free base runners, walking ten and hitting six, and Paul Burnside had a solid first start of the season but Auburn could not hold off Samford in the end, falling 12-11 on Tuesday night. The loss drops Auburn's record to 23-19 while Samford improves to 24-14.
"If you score 11 runs, you ought to win in the middle of the week, and we didn't, period," Auburn Head Coach Tom Slater said. "Credit our kids for coming back and taking the lead but we didn't do a good job of holding onto it."
Auburn held a 2-0 lead after three thanks to sacrifice flies by Tony Caldwell (0-for-3, R, RBI) and Joseph Sanders (2-for-5, 2B, 5 RBI) but Samford rallied to score four runs in the fourth off of Auburn reliever Chris O'Neil, with Tripp Swann (3-for-6, 6 RBI) delivering a game-tying two-run home run and Michael Johnson (2-for-5, 2 RBI) driving in two with a single.
The four runs allowed by O'Neil ruined what had been a good first start for Burnside, who allowed three hits and fanned one in 2.1 innings, departing with a 1-0 lead. Michael Hurst relieved Burnside with a pair of runners on but got a strikeout and a fly out to end the inning and preserve Auburn's advantage for the time being.
Samford tacked on a run in the fifth on Swann's double only to have Auburn answer with two in the bottom half of the frame to make it 5-4. Mike Bianucci started the rally when he was hit by a pitch and then scored on Brian Fletcher's (2-for-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI) fourth home run of the season, a laser over the monster in left.
Samford responded with a five-run sixth, reaching on a single, a double, a triple and two walks, with Swann delivering the triple to put him just a single shy of the cycle.
Down 10-4, Auburn got to within three in the bottom of the sixth as Trent Mummey (1-for-5, 2 R, RBI) doubled in Matt Hall (0-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R) and Sanders' single scored two.
Auburn reclaimed its lead in the bottom of the seventh as the Samford pitching staff hit Caldwell, walked Hall and Mummey and surrendered an RBI single to Bianucci to make it 10-8. An RBI walk to Ben Jones (0-for-1, BB, RBI) with the bases loaded brought Sanders to the plate, who collected his fourth and fifth RBIs of the night with a double that scored Mummey and Bianucci.
Luke Greinke (3-3) was unable to hold the lead in the eighth as Swann had a RBI groundout to tie the game at 11-11 and Marcus Rodriguez (2-for-5, 2 RBI) singled in the go-ahead run on hitter later.
Mark Lewallyn (2-0) earned the win for Samford and Kyle Nichols collected his fourth save of the season by retiring the final two hitters of the night.
Bianucci, who finished the night 1-for-2 with a walk, RBI and four runs scored, established a dubious school record on the night, reaching base three times when he was hit by a pitch. David Cunningham was also hit by a pitch two times.
The two teams combined to hit 10 batters, two shy of the NCAA record set in 1997 by Nevada and New Mexico State.
Auburn resumes SEC action this weekend at Alabama for a three-game set. Game times are 6:30pm CT on Friday, 3 pm on Saturday and 2pm on Sunday. Saturday's game will be broadcast on FSN South as the SEC Game of the Week while CSS will carry the Sunday contest.