April 9, 2008
AUBURN, Ala. -
Tony Caldwell went a perfect 4-for-4 with two doubles and three runs scored and a trio of Auburn pitchers combined to retire the final 16 hitters to step to the plate as Auburn dominated Mississippi Valley State, 10-2, on Wednesday night at Plainsman Park.
Caldwell, who was making just his 11th start of the season, collected doubles in his first two at-bats as he recorded the first four-hit night of his career.
"I saw the ball well tonight," Caldwell said. "I had good pitches to hit and I put some good swings on it. I am seeing more pitches every day in practice so that when my turn to play comes around, I am mentally ready."
The pitching trio of Bradley Hendrix (0.1), Taylor Thompson (3.0) and Michael Hurst (2.0) were untouchable on the mound for Auburn over the final 5.1 innings, combining to strikeout 10 without allowing a base-runner.
"Coming off of my last two outings, I felt a lot better out there tonight," Thompson said. "I worked a lot with Coach (Butch) Thompson on my fastball and I started throwing a fosh, which has really helped me pitch better and get me out of the mindset of always throwing my fastball."
After allowing a run in the top of the first, Auburn (22-12) responded as Hunter Morris (2-for-4, HR, BB, 2 RBI) belted his team-leading sixth home run over the K Corner in right, a two-run shot that gave Auburn a 2-1 advantage and a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the night.
Auburn tacked on three runs in the second with Ben Jones (2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI) and Mike Bianucci (0-for-4) each driving in a run and Jones scoring on an error as Auburn built a 5-1 lead.
Jones and Matt Hall (2-for-3, 3 RBI) added RBIs in the fourth and then the Tigers scored three more in the eighth on David Cunningham's (3-for-4, 3 R) RBI double and Hall's two-RBI single.
Cory Luckie (3-1) took the win for Auburn while Derrick Townsend (3-1) was tagged with the loss for Mississippi Valley State (13-14).
Hall's second-inning single extended his hitting streak to 15 games while Brian Fletcher (0-for-4) had his hitting streak snapped at 11 games.
Auburn returns to SEC action this weekend as it plays host to No. 10 South Carolina. Game times are 6pm on Friday, 3pm on Saturday and 2pm on Sunday.