May 19, 2016
Niko Buentello hit his 11th home run of the season. (Auburn Athletics photo).
NASHVILLE, Tenn.. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" In a doubleheader created due to the threat of rain on Friday, Auburn baseball dropped both games with No. 12 Vanderbilt 5-2 and 9-3 at Hawkins Field.
The pair of losses dropped Auburn's record to 23-32, 8-21 on the season.
After the Friday off day, Auburn and Vanderbilt will not play Friday and will wrap up the series on Saturday at 2 p.m.
GAME TWO: Niko Buentello hit his 11th home run of the season, but Auburn baseball fell 9-3 to No. 12 Vanderbilt in game two of a doubleheader Thursday at Hawkins Field.
"They have good arms. We knew we needed to neutralize their two and three-hole hitters," Auburn baseball head coach Butch Thompson said. "When we did, we had success. When we didn't, that hurt us especially in game two. That was the difference in the ball game. I commend Gabe Klobosits. I thought he threw great coming in so early. Tavo Rodriguez, being injured and coming back, he really threw great and all his velocity is back."
After Cole Lipscomb was removed with just one way in the first, junior Gabe Klobosits took over and pitched 4.2 innings. He allowed one run with four strikeouts.
Vanderbilt took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a 2-run homer by Bryan Reynolds and a RBI single by Liam Sabino.
Reynolds finished with three RBI. Jeren Kendall had two RBI and scored three times.
The Commodores added a run in the fifth for a 4-0 lead.
John Kilichowski earned his first victory of the season. He pitched 5.0 innings and allowed three runs on six hits with six strikeouts.
Buentello hit a 3-run homer in the sixth inning to close Auburn to 4-3. It was his 11th home run of the season and gave him 55 RBI on the season ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" the most for an Auburn hitter since 2010.
Vandy got two in the sixth and three in the seventh to push its lead to 9-3.
Jordan Ebert had three hits. Kyler Deese doubled and walked. Octavio Rodriguez pitched the final 1.1 innings with two strikeouts.
GAME ONE: Senior right-hander Justin Camp pitched seven innings, but Auburn baseball fell 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader against No. 12 Vanderbilt Thursday at Hawkins Field.
Camp allowed four runs with eight strikeouts and two walks over 7.0 innings. He took the hard-luck loss to fall to 3-5 on the season.
The eight strikeouts for Camp were a career-high for the senior in a SEC game.
Auburn took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a 2-run double by Blake Logan. Vanderbilt responded with a run in the bottom half.
Logan had three hits including two doubles. Kyler Deese singled and reached base three times.
The Commodores tied the game in the fourth on Alonzo Jones' RBI double. Jason Delay drove home Jones to give Vanderbilt a 3-2 lead.
Anfernee Grier picked up his 19th stolen base of the year in the fifth inning, the most for an Auburn player since 2012.
Vanderbilt's Ethan Paul stole home in the seventh with the bases loaded. The Commodores added a run in the eighth for a 5-2 lead.
Jordan Sheffield allowed two runs in 6.0 innings with four strikeouts. He improved to 8-4.
Three different Commodores had two hits.