April 18, 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Auburn's perfect run on conference Sunday's came to an end when Aaron Westlake hit a walk-off home run off of Grant Dayton to send No. 23 Auburn to a 3-2 defeat at No. 18 Vanderbilt. The home run came on the second pitch of the bottom of the ninth, spoiling what had been an otherwise outstanding outing for Dayton.
"Grant did a great job. I feel so bad for him and for our whole club. We battled hard today but we couldn't get anything going offensively. Their pitcher threw an outstanding game and there were two very good pitchers going at it toe-to-toe," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. "One mistake and that's the difference."
Dayton (4-2) allowed a pair of second-inning runs but was nearly untouchable after that, allowing two hits in the fifth before retiring 10 straight before Westlake's homer. In eight innings the lefty scattered six hits and two walks while striking out three.
"Grant had retired 10 in a row and his stuff was still good. When you look at Westlake, his first three at bats he didn't hit anything hard off of Grant," Pawlowski said. "It wasn't one pitch, it wasn't one play and it wasn't one swing that caused us not to win today, it was a culmination of a lot of different things."
Matching Dayton pitch-for-pitch was Vanderbilt starter Taylor Hill, who allowed two runs on seven hits and no walks in 8 2/3 innings. He left with a man on first and two down in the ninth, giving way to Richie Goodenow, who earned the win by retiring the only hitter he faced to move to 2-0.
Justin Fradejas' single to lead off the game extended his hitting streak to 18 games and also turned into the first run of the game as he scored on Hunter Morris' sac fly.
Trent Mummey's fifth home run in his first nine games of the season put Auburn up 2-0 in the third as he remained a perfect 9-for-9 in collecting hits in a game this season.
Vanderbilt (29-9, 8-7 SEC) tied it at 2-2 in the bottom of the third on Brian Harris' two-run single to center, scoring Joe Loftus and Drew Fann.
Auburn (24-13, 8-7 SEC) returns home for its next five games, beginning Tuesday night against Troy at 6:30pm CT. Tuesday is Two For Tuesday where fans can buy one ticket and get on free, and 50-cent Hot Dog Night, presented by Bryan Foods.
Vanderbilt 3, Auburn 2 (Apr 18, 2010 at Nashville, TN)
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Auburn.............. 101 000 000 - 2 7 0 (24-13, 8-7 SEC)
Vanderbilt.......... 002 000 001 - 3 6 0 (29-9, 8-7 SEC)
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Win-Richie Goodenow(2-0) Loss-Grant Dayton(4-2) T-2:15 A-3168
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