March 7, 2009
AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn bats remained hot, collecting 29 total hits, including 13 for extra-bases, as Auburn swept its doubleheader with Brown on Saturday at Plainsman Park. Jon Luke Jacobs threw seven shutout innings to pace Auburn in the 9-4, game-one win while Kevin Patterson ended the second game a single shy of the cycle as Auburn pulled out a 6-4 win to run its winning streak to six and up its record to 8-4.
"We talked about concentration and focus today. When you play 18 innings, regardless of who you play, you have to come ready to play," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. "Jon Luke Jacobs did a great job in the first game and went deep into the game, which we really needed. In the second game KP (Kevin Patterson) really stepped up. He had been struggling a little offensively but he has been working hard and he came through today."
"Coach (Pawlowski) preaches staying focused and taking care of business," Patterson said. "We need to play our game, get the job done and today we stayed focused for 18 innings. We are here to win and every game counts."
Brian Fletcher and Trent Mummey each hit home runs on the day with Fletcher's two-run shot coming in the fourth inning of game one while Mummey led off Auburn's half of the first inning of game two with his sixth home run of the season. Fletcher finished the doubleheader 4-for-7 with a double, home run and three runs scored and has hit three home runs in the three-game series thus far.
Auburn jumped out to a 7-0 lead by the end of the fifth in the first game of the day, scoring one in the third, two in the fourth and four in the fifth. Joseph Sanders collected the first of his four RBI in the game in the third when he doubled home Bradley Ray from second to put Auburn up, 1-0.
Fletcher belted his fourth home run of the year after Tony Caldwell was hit by a pitch to put Auburn up 3-0 in the fourth.
Auburn used a five-hit inning to score four runs in the fifth inning with Sanders doubling in Mummey, Wes Gilmer singling home Sanders, Casey McElroy scoring Fletcher with a single and Ray scoring Gilmer with another single to put Auburn up 7-0.
The seven run cushion was more than enough for Jacobs (1-0), who never allowed more than one hit in any of his seven innings, surrendering just five hits all afternoon while striking out four, earning his first career victory in the process.
Brown rallied with three runs in the top of the eighth off of reliever Sean Ray before Auburn answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the inning as Sanders singled home Hargett and Mummey to put Auburn up 9-3 before Brown scored one more in the ninth for the final margin.
Mummey, who finished the day 4-for-9 with three runs scored, extended his hitting streak to 10 with a fifth-inning double in game one before wasting very little time getting it going in game two with his leadoff homer in the first to extend his streak to a career-best 11 games.
Brown (1-3) was able to take its first lead of the weekend in the top of the second, stringing together five singles off of starter Ty Kelley for three runs before adding another in the top of the fourth on Nick Punal's RBI single to go up 4-1.
Auburn answered Browns four runs with three of its own in the bottom half of the frame, with all three runs coming with two outs in the inning. Patterson, who had walked in his first at bat, smoked a two-run triple down the line in right to get the scoring started, bringing Fletcher and Gilmer home on the play. McElroy then picked up his second RBI of the afternoon with a double to right, knotting the game at 4-4.
Kelley worked into the fourth inning before leaving with the game tied and runners on first and second and none out. Bradley Hendrix induced a ground ball from Brown's Robert Papenhause and then got Matt Colantonio to ground out to second to keep the game tied at 4-4.
Patterson's second home run of the year put Auburn up 5-4 in the fifth as he launched one over the bullpen wall in right.
"For me it has been a slow start to the season but it was good to get out there, relax and see the ball. When you are not going good you need to stay home and keep working. You know you can hit, you just have to go out there and do it, and I was able to do that today," Patterson said.
Hendrix had to work through some self-made trouble in the top of the sixth but managed to keep Auburn up a run before Mummey's RBI single in the bottom of the innings put Auburn up two, 6-4, giving the sophomore his second consecutive win as he worked three scoreless innings of relief.
Austin Hubbard nailed down his second save of the year with a near-perfect ninth, allowing just a two-out walk before fanning Pete Greskoff to complete the doubleheader sweep.
With Mummey's three runs on the day, he now leads the nation with 24 runs scored while Auburn's two homers give the squad 28 just 12 games into the season.
Auburn will try to complete the four-game series sweep on Sunday at 1pm CT. Neither team has announced its starter for the game.
Auburn 9, Brown 4 (Mar 07, 2009 at Auburn, Ala.) (Game 1)
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Brown............... 000 000 031 - 4 11 0 (1-3)
Auburn.............. 001 240 02X - 9 14 0 (7-4)
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Win-Jon Luke Jacobs(1-0) Loss-Gormley, Mark(1-1) T-2:29 A-0
HR AU - Brian Fletcher (4).
Game 1 Box Score in PDF Format 
Auburn 6, Brown 4 (Mar 07, 2009 at Auburn, Ala.) (Game 2)
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Brown............... 031 000 000 - 4 11 1 (1-4)
Auburn.............. 103 011 00X - 6 15 3 (8-4)
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Win-Bradley Hendrix(2-2) Save-Austin Hubbard(2) Loss-Feit, Josh(0-1) T-2:26 A-2413
HR AU - Trent Mummey (6); Kevin Patterson (2).