Alabama
Auburn
Auburn Wins Series Opener, 5-4
4/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 25, 2008
Auburn Beats Alabama, 5-4, in Series Opener
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Auburn left fielder Brian Fletcher's three-run home run highlighted a four-run sixth inning as the Tigers beat Alabama, 5-4, in front of season-high 5,437 fans at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in the Southeastern Conference series opener Friday night.
Fletcher's fifth home run of the season gave Auburn the lead for good and pulled the Tigers into a second-place tie with the Crimson Tide in the SEC Western Division standings. Both teams are now 8-11 in league play with 11 games remaining in the regular season.
Auburn's four-run inning came after Alabama had scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 3-1 lead. In the sixth, Auburn freshman designated hitter Hunter Morris drew a one-out walk and Joseph Sanders lined a 2-0 pitch to left for a double to put runners at second and third with one out. Fletcher then hit a 2-0 pitch over the wall in right field to give Auburn its first lead. Alabama pitcher Miers Quigley then allowed back-to-back singles to David Cunningham and Matt Hall before exiting the game.
Quigley (4-4) gave up five runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings in his first Friday night start of the season. He added five strikeouts and walked two batters.
Justin Hargett greeted reliever Will Stroup with single up the middle to score Cunningham as the Tigers took a 5-3 lead.
"We need the starter to go six innings," Alabama head coach Jim Wells said. "Quigley has been pitching well. That is why we moved him to Friday, but he has to get us six innings. That was really the only inning they mounted any offense."
AU starter Grant Dayton (6-1) left the game after the Tigers' four-run sixth inning. He worked five innings and allowed three runs and five hits, with six strikeouts and one walk for his sixth win.
Auburn closer Bryan Woodall worked the final two innings for his 10th save of the season.
The Crimson Tide wasted a leadoff double by Wes Henderson in the eighth inning, but did scratch across a run in the ninth to make the final 5-4. May doubled down the right field line with one out, moved to third on a balk by Woodall and scored on Matthes' ground out. Bentley fouled out to left field to end the game.
"We had several opportunities to score runs," Wells added. "We had a leadoff double in the eighth and left him standing on second base. We had first and third with no outs in the third inning and did not score. So we missed some chances."
The Crimson Tide stranded 11 base runners, including leaving two runners in scoring position in the third and the bases loaded in the fourth.
Alabama (23-21, 8-11 SEC) scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 3-1 lead as junior catcher Alex Avila delivered a bases-loaded single to right to score Josh Rutledge and Ross Wilson. Rutledge opened the inning with a double down the left field line and Wilson followed with an infield single. After a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, sophomore left fielder Brandon May walked to load the bases before Avila broke the tie with a base hit to right field.
Auburn (24-19, 8-11 SEC) had tied the game with two-out single by Ryan Jenkins in the top of the fifth. Fletcher drew a leadoff walk and moved to third when Cunningham reached on an error by Wilson at second base. After a strikeout and a foul out, Quigley came within a pitch of getting out of the inning before Jenkins bounced a single up the middle to score Jenkins and tie the game at 1-1.
Rutledge led off the game with a triple off the top of the left field wall and scored nine pitches later on a wild pitch to give the Tide a 1-0 lead. Rutledge's triple was his second of the season and extended his hitting streak to 20 games.
Alabama and Auburn play the second game of the three-game series on Saturday, April 26, at 3:07 p.m. (CDT) in a game that will be televised by FSN South as the "SEC Game of the Week". The game is sold out, but standing room only tickets will go on sale at Sewell-Thomas Stadium at 1 p.m.
GAME NOTES: *Alabama freshman shortstop Josh Rutledge (Cullman, Ala.) went 3-for-4 in his first career game against Auburn. He cracked the third pitch of the game off the top of the wall in left field for his second triple of the season. The triple also extended his hitting streak to 20 games, tying for the seventh-longest streak in school history. Dax Norris (1996), Paul Phillips (1998) and Jeremy Brown (1999) also posted 20-game hitting streaks for the Tide. Rutledge has hit safely in 37 of his 42 games this season, including 18 of 19 SEC games. He also has a 15-game SEC hitting streak.
*Auburn was retired in order in the top of the second inning, marking the first time in 29 innings of SEC play the Crimson Tide had not allowed a base runner. The streak began in the eighth inning at Tennessee on April 13 and continued through all 27 innings against Mississippi State last weekend.
*Alabama recorded three outfield assists on Friday night, including two by right fielder Kent Matthes. Matthes doubled off Trent Mummy at first base for an inning-ending double play in the first inning and threw out Hunter Morris at home to end the seventh inning. Center fielder Alex Kubal also had an outfield assist as he threw out Matt Hall at third base in the sixth inning.
*Matthes' two outfield assists tied the Alabama single-game record shared by Gabe Scott (vs. Ole Miss, 2004), Chad White (vs. LSU, 2002) and G.W. Keller (vs. USC in 1997 NCAA Regional championship game).
*Auburn outhit Alabama, 14-10. Cunningham led the Tigers with three hits, while Mummey, Morris, Fletcher and Hargett had two hits each. Rutledge led UA with three hits, followed by Wilson and Henderson with two hits each.
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