March 3, 2012
AUBURN, Ala. - Will Kendall's first collegiate start turned into a very memorable one for the sophomore left-hander as he tossed 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball as the Auburn baseball team claimed a 13-1 win over Charleston Southern at Plainsman Park on Saturday. The win pushed Auburn's record to 7-5 while Charleston Southern fell to 4-6.
"You play 56 games and you have to be ready to come back and play after some tough losses or when things don't go well," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. "The club responded today and it all started with Will Kendall on the mound. The first inning Charleston Southern had two guys on and none out and he battled back and got through that. I thought he did an outstanding job in his first collegiate start."
Kendall, who wasn't announced as the starter until after Friday night's ballgame, allowed just five hits and two walks in the outing, never allowing more than one hit in any given inning while striking out a career high five, which included the side in the fifth.
"I felt really good and (catcher Caleb) Bowen and I were on the same page the whole time," Kendall said. "I tried to stay relaxed and once I got on the game mound I got back to what I have always been doing."
The top three in Auburn's lineup combined to drive in 10 of Auburn's 13 runs on the night as Jay Gonzalez tied his career high in hits and RBIs (three each) and Ryan Tella had career highs in both hits (three) and RBIs (five). Sandwiched between the two was Creede Simpson, who was 2-for-5 with three RBIs, giving him seven multi-hit games in 12 contests this season.
"I felt good taking cuts in the cages today. I just tried to go out there and get things started for the team. I saw some good fastballs and got some good barrel on it," Gonzalez said.
Patrick Savage homered in the second, his second of the year, to ignite a five-run inning. Cullen Wacker (2-for-2, 3 BB , 2 R) followed the blast with a line shot that ricocheted off the head of Charleston Southern starting pitcher Charlie McCready for a single. McCready (1-2) was forced to leave the game with a concussion, leaving the bullpen with seven-innings of work.
Brennan Dorsett was handed the ball after McCready and was greeted by three runs on four hits and a walk as Auburn built a 5-0 lead after two and never looked back, scoring a single run in the fourth on a Tella RBI single and two in the fifth on a Simpson two-run double to extend the lead to 8-0.
A bases loaded walk in the seventh to Gonzalez made it 9-0 and then Auburn capped its scoring with four in the eighth as Dan Glevenyak, who had three hits, drove in a run, pinch hitter Tanner Cimo drew a bases-loaded walk and Tella drove in two.
Of Auburn's 13 RBIs on the day, 10 came with two outs in an inning.
A ninth-inning unearned run off of Slade Smith, who allowed one hit in 2 2/3 innings, spoiled the shutout.
Auburn closes out the tournament on Sunday at 3pm when it plays host to Southern Miss.
The first game on Sunday pits Charleston Southern against Purdue, which is undefeated on the weekend after rallying from six runs down with two outs in the seventh to win, 10-9, over Southern Miss on Saturday. First pitch is set for 11am.
Auburn 13, Charleston Southern 1 (Mar 03, 2012 at Auburn, AL)
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Charleston Southern. 000 000 001 - 1 6 0 (4-6)
Auburn.............. 050 120 14X - 13 17 2 (7-5)
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Win-Will Kendall(1-0) Loss-MCCREADY, Charlie(1-2) T-2:34 A-2874
Auburn-Charleston Southern Box
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