Auburn Sweeps Brown In Saturday Twin Bill

[AUSportTalk 4]

AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn bats remained hot, collecting 29 total hits,

including 13 for extra-bases, as Auburn swept its doubleheader with

Brown on Saturday at Plainsman Park. Jon Luke Jacobs threw seven shutout

innings to pace Auburn in the 9-4, game-one win while Kevin Patterson

ended the second game a single shy of the cycle as Auburn pulled out a

6-4 win to run its winning streak to six and up its record to 8-4.

“We talked about concentration and focus today. When you play 18

innings, regardless of who you play, you have to come ready to play,”

Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. “Jon Luke Jacobs did a great job

in the first game and went deep into the game, which we really needed.

In the second game KP (Kevin Patterson) really stepped up. He had been

struggling a little offensively but he has been working hard and he came

through today.”

“Coach (Pawlowski) preaches staying focused and taking care of

business,” Patterson said. “We need to play our game, get the job done

and today we stayed focused for 18 innings. We are here to win and every

game counts.”

Brian Fletcher and Trent Mummey each hit home runs on the day with

Fletcher’s two-run shot coming in the fourth inning of game one while

Mummey led off Auburn’s half of the first inning of game two with his

sixth home run of the season. Fletcher finished the doubleheader 4-for-7

with a double, home run and three runs scored and has hit three home

runs in the three-game series thus far.

Auburn jumped out to a 7-0 lead by the end of the fifth in the first

game of the day, scoring one in the third, two in the fourth and four in

the fifth. Joseph Sanders collected the first of his four RBI in the

game in the third when he doubled home Bradley Ray from second to put

Auburn up, 1-0.

Fletcher belted his fourth home run of the year after Tony Caldwell was

hit by a pitch to put Auburn up 3-0 in the fourth.

Auburn used a five-hit inning to score four runs in the fifth inning

with Sanders doubling in Mummey, Wes Gilmer singling home Sanders, Casey

McElroy scoring Fletcher with a single and Ray scoring Gilmer with

another single to put Auburn up 7-0.

The seven run cushion was more than enough for Jacobs (1-0), who never

allowed more than one hit in any of his seven innings, surrendering just

five hits all afternoon while striking out four, earning his first

career victory in the process.

Brown rallied with three runs in the top of the eighth off of reliever

Sean Ray before Auburn answered with two runs of its own in the bottom

of the inning as Sanders singled home Hargett and Mummey to put Auburn

up 9-3 before Brown scored one more in the ninth for the final margin.

Mummey, who finished the day 4-for-9 with three runs scored, extended

his hitting streak to 10 with a fifth-inning double in game one before

wasting very little time getting it going in game two with his leadoff

homer in the first to extend his streak to a career-best 11 games.

Brown (1-3) was able to take its first lead of the weekend in the top of

the second, stringing together five singles off of starter Ty Kelley for

three runs before adding another in the top of the fourth on Nick

Punal’s RBI single to go up 4-1.

Auburn answered Browns four runs with three of its own in the bottom

half of the frame, with all three runs coming with two outs in the

inning. Patterson, who had walked in his first at bat, smoked a two-run

triple down the line in right to get the scoring started, bringing

Fletcher and Gilmer home on the play. McElroy then picked up his second

RBI of the afternoon with a double to right, knotting the game at 4-4.

Kelley worked into the fourth inning before leaving with the game tied

and runners on first and second and none out. Bradley Hendrix induced a

ground ball from Brown’s Robert Papenhause and then got Matt Colantonio

to ground out to second to keep the game tied at 4-4.

Patterson’s second home run of the year put Auburn up 5-4 in the fifth

as he launched one over the bullpen wall in right.

“For me it has been a slow start to the season but it was good to get

out there, relax and see the ball. When you are not going good you need

to stay home and keep working. You know you can hit, you just have to go

out there and do it, and I was able to do that today,” Patterson said.

Hendrix had to work through some self-made trouble in the top of the

sixth but managed to keep Auburn up a run before Mummey’s RBI single in

the bottom of the innings put Auburn up two, 6-4, giving the sophomore

his second consecutive win as he worked three scoreless innings of

relief.

Austin Hubbard nailed down his second save of the year with a

near-perfect ninth, allowing just a two-out walk before fanning Pete

Greskoff to complete the doubleheader sweep.

With Mummey’s three runs on the day, he now leads the nation with 24

runs scored while Auburn’s two homers give the squad 28 just 12 games

into the season.

Auburn will try to complete the four-game series sweep on Sunday at 1pm

CT. Neither team has announced its starter for the game.

[AgentOrange 36]

That's awesome the offense is still clicking!