Diamond Dogs Drop Opener At Auburn, 11-4

Friday, May 2

Auburn, Ala.

6:00 p.m.

Mississippi State

18-27, 6-16

Auburn

25-22, 9-13

Mississippi State

Auburn

Diamond Dogs Drop Opener At Auburn, 11-4

May 02, 2008 | Baseball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

? Official Statistics
? Official Statistics (PDF)

AUBURN, Ala. - A four-run fourth inning broke open a tight ballgame, as Auburn turned back Mississippi State 11-4 in Southeastern Conference baseball action Friday night.

Auburn freshman left-hander Grant Dayton struck out a career-high 12 Bulldogs as the homestanding Tigers cruised to victory after breaking that 1-1 tie in the home half of the fouth inning.

With the victory, Auburn improved to 25-22 overall and 9-13 in league play, while MSU fell to 18-27 and 6-16.

Auburn scored first in its opening at-bat. An ground ball out by Hunter Morris brought home the game's first run. MSU tied the game 1-1 in the fourth inning when Jason Nappi rapped an RBI-double, scoring Tyler Moore, who had walked.

In the Auburn fourth inning, Joseph Sanders walked and Brian Fletcher doubled to left center. After a lineout, Matt Hall hit a sacrifice fly, plating Sanders with the go-ahead run. With two outs, Justin Hargett lined an RBI-single, prior to a two-run home run by Ryan Jenkins - his first of the season, a towering shot over the extended wall in dead center field to extend the lead to 5-1.

The Tigers stretched the lead to 7-1 with a pair of runs in the fifth inning. Again a leadoff walk proved critical, as Mike Bianucci drew a walk to start the fifth inning. Morris advanced Bianucci with a single to right field. An RBI-single by Sanders chased MSU started Chad Crosswhite. New relief pitcher Lee Swindle was also touched for an RBI-single by Cunningham.

Auburn extended the lead to 8-1 with a Bianucci RBI-double in the sixth inning.

In the M-State seventh inning, the Bulldogs began a comeback. With two outs, Ryan Power lined a single. Grant Hogue reached on an infield error, extending the inning. Ryan Collins then made the Tigers pay, slapping a three-run home run to right field. For Collins, who missed the final two games of last weekend's series with Tennessee, it was his third home run of the year.

Auburn answered MSU's three-spot with three runs of their own in the home half of the eighth inning. Hall reached on a fielding error to start this inning. After a sacrifice bunt by Hargett, Jenkins legged out an infield hit. A wild pitch advanced the runners and scored Hall. With two outs, Bianucci hit his ninth home run of the year - a two-run shot to left field.

Auburn finished with 11 hits. The Tigers reached their lead off man on seven of eight at-bats. Bianucci, Jenkins and Hargett had multiple hits for Auburn.

MSU finished with six hits - matching the second-lowest output in 22 conference games. Both Ryan Powers and Moore had a pair of hits for the Bulldogs. For MSU, Hogue saw hs 12-game hit streak snapped.

Dayton (7-1) worked seven innings to earn the win. The Huntsville, Ala., red-shirt freshman allowed four hits and four runs (one earned), with the 12 strikeouts, three walks and a hit batsman. Evan Crawford threw two innings of shutout relief to complete the contest. Crawford allowed two hits with no walks and no strikeouts.

Crosswhite (2-4) worked 4-plus innings, allowing six hits and seven runs (six earned), with three walks and two strikeouts. Swindle threw four innings, allowing five hits and four runs (one earned), with no walks and no strikeouts.

The Bulldogs and Tigers resume their series with a 6 p.m. start Saturday night. MSU is scheduled to start sophomore-right hander Ricky Bowen (2-5, 7.38 ERA), while Auburn is scheduled to start sophomore right-hander Taylor Thompson (2-4, 6.65). The series finale is at 2 p.m. Sunday. Both the Saturday and Sunday games will be available on Sirius Satellite Radio (channel 119), as well as statewide on the Bulldog Sports Network and through the Internet on M2M.