March 20, 2010
AUBURN, Ala. - A night after winning by a very comfortable 17-run margin, Auburn needed every run it got on Saturday as the Tigers claimed a 4-3, series-clinching win at Georgia on Saturday afternoon. Ryan Jenkins hit a two-run home run for Auburn and Austin Hubbard threw the final 3 1/3 innings to pick up the save as Auburn improved to 13-5, 2-0 SEC.
"I told the guys that this was going to be a totally different ball game (than last night) and it certainly was," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. "Cole (Nelson) did what we ask our starters to do, go out and give us a chance to either build some momentum or find a way to get a lead. He kept us right in the ball game and I thought that was very important."
Auburn, which had not won a series from Georgia since 2003, took game two behind solid pitching performances by Cole Nelson and Hubbard. Nelson, who earned the win to stay a perfect 4-0 on the year, lasted into the sixth inning, leaving with Auburn up 4-1 after the lefty had struck out five and gave up four hits.
Auburn took a 1-0 lead in the first on a Justin Grimm (1-2) wild pitch with men on second and third, allowing Creede Simpson to scamper home with the game's first run.
Jenkins' third career home run, a line drive shot off of Grimm over the 2004 College World Series marking on the wall in left-center, made it 3-0 Auburn in the fourth, scoring Dan Gamache.
Auburn went up 4-0 in the top of the sixth as Friday's hero Justin Bryant successfully executed the suicide squeeze with Tony Caldwell charging in from third.
"Today was a big battle and a good test for our team," Jenkins said. "It wasn't as easy as it was yesterday. We really had to work for this one. We played small ball. JB (Justin Bryant) had a great suicide squeeze, Cole threw the ball great and we battled for this one today."
Georgia (8-11, 0-2 SEC) got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth to creep to within a pair, 4-2. A leadoff walk, a single and a stolen base put runners at first and second for cleanup hitter Robert Shipman, who produced a RBI groundout to second, prompting Auburn to go to its' bullpen. Zach Blatt fanned the first hitter he faced but then hit a batter and allowed an RBI single, forcing Pawlowski to call upon the bullpen again with Hubbard getting the early call. Hubbard needed just three pitches to end the Georgia threat, striking out Levi Hyams on three pitches.
"We were in a situation where the game was on the line and we called on Austin. He pitched out of trouble there and did a great job to finish it off," Pawlowski said.
Georgia made things interesting when it pulled within a run, 4-3, with a pair of singles and a pair of walks off of Hubbard in the seventh. Todd Hankins and Zach Cone led off the inning with singles back up the middle before Hubbard got a pair of strike outs. He then walked Shipman and Zach Taylor to make it a one-run game.
Hubbard earned his second save of the season and the 14th of his career, allowing one run on three hits while striking out a career-high six.
Grimm was tagged with the loss, allowing all four of Auburn's runs in six innings, surrendering seven hits while striking out nine.
Auburn will try for its' first three-game conference series sweep since 2003 against Kentucky on Sunday at 1pm ET. The start time was moved up an hour due to weather concerns.
Auburn will start Jr. LHP Grant Dayton (1-1, 7.47) on the mound while Georgia will throw Sr. RHP Jeff Walters (0-1, 8.83 ERA).
Auburn 4, Georgia 3 (Mar 20, 2010 at Athens, GA)
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Auburn.............. 100 201 000 - 4 9 1 (13-5, 2-0 SEC)
Georgia............. 000 002 100 - 3 8 1 (8-11, 0-2 SEC)
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Win-Cole Nelson(4-0) Save-Austin Hubbard(2) Loss-Justin Grimm(1-2) T-2:47 A-3917
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