April 5, 2011
TROY, Ala. - Auburn surrendered 13 two-out runs on Tuesday night at Riddle-Pace Field, falling to No. 20 Troy, 14-6. The loss dropped Auburn's record to 15-14 while Troy improved to 23-6.
"I thought they jumped us pretty good (in the fifth) and we had some chances early but it kind of seems like the same story. We need to find some way to keep our heads up and keep playing hard," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said.
Auburn and Troy each had 15 hits in the game but Auburn also committed three errors which led to seven unearned runs.
Troy had a pair of five-run innings, plating five in the third off of Will Irvin (4-2) and five in the fifth off of Chris O'Neil and Jay Wade to put the game out of reach early.
Shane McCain was the beneficiary from all of Troy's early runs as he was able to work into the sixth inning to pick up his first win of the season and even his record at 1-1.
Logan Pierce did most of the damage for Troy as he finished the night 4-for-5 with two doubles, a grand slam and seven RBI. His slam in the fifth looked to be the demoralizer as it turned a seven-run Troy lead into an 11-run lead, giving Troy a 12-1 advantage.
Troy used four singles, a double and a triple in the third to knock Irvin off the mound after he retired the first two hitters of the inning.
A pair of two-out runs off of Slade Smith in the fourth made it 7-0 Troy before Wade served up Pierce's slam over the scoreboard in right-center after an error in center allowed the inning to continue.
Kevin Patterson hit his fourth home run of the season, a three-run pinch-hit bomb that hugged the right field line in the top of the seventh. He finished the game 2-for-2, doubling to lead off the ninth.
Will Kendall threw 3 1/3 innings of relief for Auburn, allowing a pair of unearned runs on two hits and a walk in his second appearance of the season.
Brooks Beisner hit a two-run home run in the ninth off of Troy's Nick Ward, his second of the and the first runs allowed by Ward this season.
Auburn remains on the road for the weekend, traveling to Lexington, Ky., to face the University of Kentucky. Game times are 5:30pm CT on Friday and Saturday and noon on Sunday in a game that will air live on CSS.
Troy 14, Auburn 6 (Apr 05, 2011 at Troy, AL)
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Auburn.............. 000 010 302 - 6 15 3 (15-14)
Troy................ 005 250 02X - 14 15 0 (23-5)
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Win-Shane McCain(1-1) Loss-Will Irvin(4-2) T-3:08 A-2011
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