March 5, 2011
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The No. 25 Auburn (9-3) baseball team finished off its weekend in Charleston with a 13-8 win over Western Kentucky on Saturday night, finishing the weekend with three wins in three games at the CofC Classic. Sean Ray (1-0) threw the final 4 2/3 innings to pick up his first win of the season and his first career win away from Plainsman Park.
"We came in here with the mindset that we needed to play well this weekend," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. "It was important for our mental state and for our confidence level and I thought we did that today. We played 18 innings of baseball with a break in between and I thought our concentration and focus was good throughout the whole day today."
Kevin Patterson finished the night with a career-high four hits, homering in his first at bat, doubling in both the third and fourth innings and then singling in the sixth. He finished the night with three RBIs and two runs scored.
"I got to rest up in the first thing and clear my head after a tough Friday night," Patterson said. "It was good to square some balls up and get my first one out of the season. But more importantly, coming out here and getting the sweep was huge for our team."
Justin Hargett, who had his 10-game hitting streak snapped in Saturday's first game against the College of Charleston, rebounded with a 3-for-6 night, singling three times, scoring twice and driving in two.
Auburn broke out to an 8-3 lead after the top of the fifth inning only to see Western Kentucky (6-5) storm back with a five-run bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 8-8 and end Slade Smith's day in a no-decision. Smith surrendered six runs on a career-high 11 hits, walking two and striking out three.
Auburn answered Western Kentucky's five-run inning with a four-run sixth as Hargett singled in two runs and Creede Simpson (2-for-3, 2 BB, 3 RBI) drove in two with a double to left.
Ray entered with five runs in in the fifth and only one down with a man standing on second. He got out of the inning with a groundout and a line out and then finished and allowed just one hit and two walks with a strike out through the final four innings.
"I had a guy on second base when I came in and my main goal was not letting him score," Ray said. "
Auburn returns to Plainsman Park for its next five games, playing host to Memphis on Tuesday and Wednesday at 6pm each day before No. 7 Arizona State comes in for the weekend.
Auburn 13, Western Kentucky 8 (Mar 05, 2011 at Charleston, SC)
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Auburn.............. 050 214 001 - 13 17 1 (9-3)
Western Kentucky.... 120 050 000 - 8 14 0 (6-5)
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Win-Sean Ray(1-0) Loss-Phil Wetherell(0-1) T-3:08 A-1019
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