May 11, 2011
AUBURN, Ala. - Kevin Patterson finished the night 4-for-5 with a double and Dan Gamache homered and drove in two runs as Auburn claimed a 7-5 win over Alabama State in the final home non-conference game for Auburn on Wednesday night. The win bumps Auburn's record to 26-23 while Alabama State dropped to 14-27.
"We expected nothing different than a great challenge tonight and it certainly was," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. "One big hit here or there changes the whole complexion of the game but fortunately we found a couple of ways to score some runs. I though Andrew (Morris) and Zach (Blatt) pitched us out of some trouble enough to get the win tonight."
Auburn rode the pitching of Morris (2-3) for 6 2/3 innings as it built a 5-2 lead over the first six innings. Morris, making his fifth start of the season, recorded a career-high eight strike outs, including five of the first six hitters Alabama State brought to the plate.
Blatt picked up his third save of the season and first since March 19 against Arkansas by throwing the final 2 1/3 innings, getting charged for a run on three hits and two walks.
Auburn scored three times off of Alabama State starter Trent Popp (0-1) in the second inning as Justin Fradejas (2-for-5, RBI) hit a sac fly and Gamache homered to center, his fifth of the season.
A Cullen Wacker (2-for-3, BB, RBI) run scoring single in the third upped the lead to 4-0 before the two teams traded runs in the fourth as Jourdan Mott (2-for-4, RBI) and Creede Simpson (1-for-4, RBI) each delivered RBI singles to make it 5-1.
Alabama State got to within a run, 5-4, in the seventh as when Gerald Washington (0f-r3, 2 BB) scored from third on a sixth-inning error by Auburn and Ron James, Jr. (3-for-5, 2 RBI) drove in two runs with a flair single down the right field line.
Auburn answered with a run in the bottom of the seventh on a Patterson RBI single only to have Alabama State take it right back in the eighth on anther Auburn error to make it 6-5.
"Getting a win is huge after last night and especially after Sunday," Patterson said of the team's losses to Samford and Georgia, respectively. "We were kind of down and it was a tough way to end the weekend and last night was a tough loss. Give them (Alabama State) credit, they played hard, but getting the win is huge."
Auburn scored an insurance run in the seventh as Cullen Wacker was hit by a pitch and ultimately scored on a wild pitch from third.
Auburn plays its final three home games this weekend when it plays host to arch-rival Alabama. Game times for the series are 6pm on Friday, noon on Saturday and 1pm on Sunday. Fans are reminded that the Saturday time was changed from its original 3pm first pitch to accommodate television, as the game will air live on CSS.
Auburn 7, Alabama State 5 (May 11, 2011 at Auburn, AL)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama State....... 000 101 210 - 5 8 1 (14-27)
Auburn.............. 031 100 11X - 7 14 2 (26-23)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Win-Andrew Morris(2-3) Save-Zach Blatt(3) Loss-Popp,Trent(0-1) T-3:04 A-1868
Follow Auburn baseball on twitter at twitter.com/AUTigerBaseball.