March 4, 2011
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Cory Luckie threw seven shutout innings and Casey McElroy homered and drove in three runs as the No. 25 Auburn baseball team opened the CofC Classic with a 6-3 win over New York Tech on Friday afternoon at The Ballpark at Patriots Point.
"Cory Luckie, I felt he got better as the game went on. He got stronger," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. "Part of this game is about making adjustments whether it's as a hitter or a pitcher or to the field or to the conditions and that's why you bring teams on the road. I thought this was a good lesson and a good learning curve for our guys to go through."
Luckie (1-1), making his first Friday start of the season, allowed three first-inning hits but then settled in, allowing seven hits over his seven innings, walking two and striking out six.
"It took a while for me to get adjusted. The mound was a little different, a little more flat, but I definitely felt better as the game went on," Luckie said.
McElroy (3-for-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI), who finished 2010 with nine home runs, hit his first of the year in the bottom of the seventh to put Auburn up, 6-0. The three-run blast went over the 25-foot, ivy-covered fence down the line in left, driving in Justin Hargett (1-for-4, 2B, 2 R) and Justin Fradejas (3-for-3, R, RBI).
"I knew I hit it pretty good but I was just hoping it was deep enough so that the guy on third (Fradejas) could tag," McElroy said. "I think with the spin it might have gotten caught up in the wind and that took it over."
Auburn (7-3) struck New York Tech (0-1) starter Preston Wasmund (0-1) for three runs on six hits and two walks in four innings, scoring twice in the third and once in the fourth.
Dan Gamache's (1-for-3, 2 RBI) two-out, bases-loaded single down the line in right gave Auburn a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third, scoring Hargett and McElroy.
Fradejas extended the lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out single to left that scored Cullen Wacker (0-for-2, BB, SB, R) from second, who had walked and stole second.
New York Tech made things interesting with a three-run ninth off of Dillon Ortman, forcing Auburn to bring in Ethan Wallen for the save, his second of the season. After the leadoff hitter reached on an error, Ortman allowed a pair of singles and a fielder's choice in which no out was recorded, bringing in Wallen with two runs in, runners on the corners and one out.
Wallen allowed a run-scoring single to the first hitter he faced but then got a strike out and a ground out to end the game.
Hargett's double in the seventh extended his hitting streak to 10 games, tying his career-longest.
Auburn returns to the diamond on Saturday at 1pm ET when it plays the host College of Charleston. So. RHP Slade Smith (1-0, 6.10) gets the start on the mound for Auburn while Jr. LHP Josh Renfro (2-0, 1.64) will throw for Charleston.
Auburn 6, New York Tech 3 (Mar 04, 2011 at Charleston, S.C.)
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New York Tech....... 000 000 003 - 3 11 0 (0-1)
Auburn.............. 002 100 30X - 6 10 3 (7-3)
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Win-Cory Luckie(1-1) Save-Ethan Wallen(2) Loss-Wasmund, Preston(0-1) T-2:26 A-0
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