March 15, 2009
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Auburn smashed four more home runs and clinched its first SEC series-opening win since the 2003 season with an 8-5 win in the first game of a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.
Jon Luke Jacobs (2-0) earned the win for Auburn, which improved to 13-4 on the year, tossing five innings and allowing three runs on nine hits and two walks, striking out two.
Auburn took a 4-0 lead in the first on a Ben Jones RBI double and back-to-back home runs off the bats of Brian Fletcher and Kevin Patterson. Trent Mummey led off the inning with a single to extend his hitting streak to 16 games before Jones' one-out double scored Mummey from first. With two down, Fletcher parked his sixth home run of the season into The Porch in left, a two-run shot, before Patterson followed with a blast to right-center, his fourth of the season, giving Jacobs a 4-0 lead before even throwing a pitch. Auburn has now outscored its opponents 28-4 in first innings this season.
Auburn added solo runs in the second and third to up its lead to 6-0. Mummey's RBI double scored Casey McElroy, who had walked to lead off the second inning, before Tony Caldwell's RBI double to the wall in left scored Hunter Morris from second after a leadoff single and a wild pitch put the cleanup hitter on second in the third.
Jacobs had to work through some trouble in the bottom of the first as Tennessee loaded the bases on a single and two walks but Jacobs was able to escape the inning unscathed.
Five straight base hits to start the bottom of the third pulled Tennessee to within three, 6-3, but some bad base running cost Tennessee a chance for even more runs. P.J. Polk and Kentrail singled to lead off the inning before Cody Hawn's double to right scored Polk. A Blake Forsythe single scored Davis and a Lockwood single to center scored Hawn but Forsythe was thrown out trying to go first-to-third on the play for the first out of the inning. Jacobs was then able to get Cody Grisham to ground out to short before striking out Tyler Horne to end the inning.
Casey McElroy's solo home run to center with two down in the sixth put Auburn up 7-3. The home run to center was the third of the year for the freshman.
After Tennessee picked up a run on a double play in the bottom of the sixth, Auburn got the run back on Joseph Sanders' team-leading ninth home run of the season, Auburn's 24th solo home run of the season.
Tennessee tacked on a run in the ninth that was charged to Bradley Hendrix but Austin Hubbard was able to slam the door from there, picking up his third save of the season.
Jones finished the game 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored while Mummey was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, upping his season total to 32 runs scored on the season.
Tennessee starter Ty'Relle Harris (1-2) allowed six runs in three innings to take the loss.
With four home runs in the game, Auburn upped its' season total to 39 on the year, which puts the team in a three-way tie for 21st all-time in Auburn history with the 1993 and 1989 teams.
The win was the 11th straight for Auburn, which marks the 11th time in school history that Auburn has had an 11-game-or-better winning streak. The victory also ensured Auburn of its first SEC-opening series victory since 2003 and the first time it won a SEC-opening series on the road since sweeping South Carolina in Columbia in 1997.
Auburn 8, Tennessee 5 (Mar 15, 2009 at Knoxville, Tenn.) (Game 1)
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Auburn.............. 411 001 1 - 8 11 0 (13-4, 2-0 SEC)
Tennessee........... 003 001 1 - 5 12 0 (7-8, 0-2 SEC)
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Win-Jon Luke Jacobs(2-0) Save-Austin Hubbard(3) Loss-Ty'Relle Harris(1-2) T-2:11 A-0
HR AU - Joseph Sanders (9); Brian Fletcher (6); Kevin Patterson (4); Casey McElroy (3).
