May 14, 2009
AUBURN, Ala. - Brian Fletcher's drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 10th to rally Auburn to a 3-2 win over Alabama on Thursday night at Plainsman Park. Austin Hubbard earned the win in relief for Auburn, not allowing a run over the final three innings while striking out five.
"The kids just kept battling back," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. "Both pitchers went out there and were dominating. We couldn't get much going, but fortunately for us we battled back."
There would not have been a 10th inning had it not been for Tony Caldwell's two-out, RBI single in the ninth that knotted the game at 2-2 off of Alabama's Nathan Kilcrease. Caldwell, who was 2-for-4 with two two-out RBI on the night, punched a 0-1 pitch into right for an RBI single, easily scoring Fletcher from third to tie the game after he singled and moved to third on Casey McElroy's single to right.
Wes Gilmer got the 10th inning rally started with a leadoff single off of Kilcrease (4-3), knocking him from the game after he recorded just two outs on the night while surrendering four hits. A Justin Hargett sacrifice bunt off of Adam Scott moved Gilmer to third before Trent Mummey was hit by a pitch, prompting a move to Tyler White. White hit Ben Jones to load the bases but was able to get Hunter Morris to pop up to short before Fletcher delivered a game-winning RBI for the second straight game.
Jon Luke Jacobs had one of his finest performances of his young career on the mound, throwing into the seventh for the second time this season and holding the SEC's top offensive club to just two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out a career-high nine Crimson Tide batters.
"It was a really good night," Jacobs said. "The fastball was going well tonight. That's a big key for me. If I can get that going then my other stuff will come around. That was the big key for me tonight. It was definitely a career night for me. You just try to come out in a big series like this with your best."
Alabama, which entered with a team batting average of .337, was held to five-or-less hits for only the third time this season.
Alabama led 1-0 in the fifth on a Brandon May RBI single only to see Caldwell single home Hunter Morris in the seventh to tie the game at 1-1.
Alabama recaptured the lead, 2-1, in the top of the eighth as Ross Wilson singled in Alex Kubel, which was seemingly enough for starter Austin Hyatt, who had surrendered just four hits on the night and left with a 2-1 lead and one out in the top of the ninth.
The 10th-inning walk gave Fletcher a second-straight game-winning RBI as he delivered an eight-inning go-ahead single on Tuesday night in Auburn's 8-6 win over Georgia Southern.
The win was the third straight for Auburn, which improved to 30-24, 10-18 SEC. Alabama dropped to 36-16, 17-10 SEC.
Hubbard is now 3-3 on the season and has picked up a win and two saves in his last three appearances.
The two teams return to the diamond at 6pm on Friday night. Auburn will throw So. LHP Grant Dayton 2-6, 6.10 ERA) while Alabama will send Jr. LHP Del Howell (5-2, 5.94) to the hill.
Auburn 3, Alabama 2 (May 14, 2009 at Auburn, AL)
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Alabama............. 000 100 010 0 - 2 5 1 (36-16, 17-10 SEC)
Auburn.............. 000 000 101 1 - 3 8 0 (30-24, 10-18 SEC)
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Win-Austin Hubbard(3-3) Loss-Nathan Kilcrease(4-3) T-3:06 A-2361
