The Vols will next be in action when they host Western Kentucky for a two-game midweek set on Tuesday and Wednesday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. both days.
AUBURN, Ala. - Rocky McCord struck out a career-high eight hitters and Ryan Tella and Patrick Savage each drove in a pair of runs as the Auburn baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Brown with a 6-3 win on Sunday. With the win Auburn improved to 12-3, its best start to a season since it started the 2007 season 13-2.
"I thought today was very important for Rocky," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. "He was throwing three pitches for strikes and really dominating the zone. He had a presence about himself. He made some big pitches when he needed to. It was certainly a big performance for him and one that we needed."
McCord (2-0) scattered five hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings and was charged for just one run. After allowing a pair of first-inning singles, the righty settled in to retire 11 of the next 12 hitters, with the only blemish coming on a hit batter in the third, which Blake Austin erased by throwing him out attempting to steal second.
"I had good command of my curveball and slider and really good command of my fastball. The curveball had them out in front," McCord said. "Last week I felt like I did well but I didn't have a good feel for my pitches. This week was my best performance feel-wise."
Auburn took a 2-0 lead in the second off of Brown (1-6) starter Kevin Carlow (0-2). Cullen Wacker singled and Garrett Cooper walked before Savage drove them both in with his third double of the year.
Auburn increased the lead with another two runs in the fifth. Austin doubled to lead off the inning and Jordan Ebert singled to put runners on the corners and extend his hitting streak to 13 games. A Jackson Burgreen single scored Austin and a Tella RBI groundout scored Ebert to make it 4-0 Auburn.
Brown got a run back in the seventh off of McCord when Daniel Massey singled in Will Marcal to make it 4-1. Brown would eventually load the bases with two outs in the inning with back-to-back walks off of McCord prompting a move to Reid Carter out of the Auburn bullpen. Carter induced a foul-out out of nine-hole hitter John Sheridan to hold the three-run lead.
Auburn scored twice more in the seventh to go up 6-1. Burgreen walked and Dan Glevenyak singled to put runners on the corners. When Glevenyak stole second, catcher Wes Van Boom's throw eluded middle infielder J.J. Franco, allowing Burgreen to score and Glevenyak to go to third. Tella then brought Glevenyak in with a sacrifice fly.
Brown wouldn't go away quietly, scoring twice in the ninth. Van Boom and Daniel Massey hit back-to-back singles off of Carter, bringing Justin Camp in from the Auburn bullpen. He allowed back-to-back singles before retiring the next three hitters to end the game.
Austin, who extended his hitting streak to a career-high seven games with the fifth-inning double, now has caught 25 men trying to steal.
Auburn returns to the field on Tuesday at Kennesaw State. First pitch is set for 5pm CT.
Tide Loses Thriller at Louisville
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Ty Young delivered a one-out bases loaded single in the bottom of the 10th innings to lift the No. 5 ranked Louisville Cardinals to an 8-7 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide on Sunday afternoon from Jim Patterson Stadium. The Cardinals (12-2) swept the three-game series over the Crimson Tide (8-7).
In the bottom of the 10th inning, Louisville got a walk and a bunt single to put runners on first and second with no outs. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners up 90 feet, the Tide intentionally walked Coco Johnson to load the bases. Taylor Wolfe entered the game and on a 2-1 pitch, Young delivered the game-winning RBI single to right center field to score Sutton Whiting from third base, giving the Cardinals their second walk-off victory of the weekend.
“First of all, I like the way we competed,” Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard said. “We got off to a quick start and they bounced back and kind of hit us in the mouth, then we responded late to tie the game. Some guys came into the game in critical situations and performed very well, and gave us an opportunity to win the game.”
Louisville reliever Kyle McGrath (2-0) got the win after throwing a scoreless 10th inning against the Tide. Mitch Greer (1-1), who got the Tide out of a jam in the ninth inning, was the hard-luck losing pitcher, after the walk to open the Louisville 10th was charged to him. Greer threw 0.2 innings before leaving the game with an injury after throwing two balls to the leadoff hitter in the 10th.
Both Ben Moore and Brett Booth homered in the game for Alabama. Moore was 3-for-3 with a walk, three RBI and two runs scored. Booth was 1-for-4 with two RBI and scored twice. Moore, Booth and Kenny Roberts, who was 1-for-4 with a run scored, had all five of the Tide’s hits on Sunday.
Louisville collected 13 hits in the game, as six different players had two hits each. Young was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Whiting was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, a walk, an RBI and two runs scored.
“At the end of the day, as tough as it is to lose three games here, with a youthful team and the situations they have been in leading into SEC play, we’ve gotten better,” Gaspard said. “Now, we have to take the things we’re not doing well, improve our game and start the climb to become a good baseball team.”
Alabama jumped out to an early lead after scoring three times in the top of the second. Austen Smith reached on an error by the Louisville shortstop to open the inning then Booth hammered his second home run of the season over the left field wall to stake the Tide to a 2-0 lead. Ben Moore followed with a single, Kyle Overstreet was hit by a pitch and then Andrew Miller moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt. With runners on second and third and one out, Ryan Blanchard had a sacrifice fly to left field to allow Moore to score, making it 3-0 in favor of the Tide.
Louisville got a run back in the third inning when an Adam Engel groundout plated Whiting, who tripled to center field with one out. Alabama got the run back in the top of the fourth when Moore led off the inning with a deep shot to left field for the second time this season, off Louisville starting pitcher Jared Ruxer to open the inning.
Louisville got back-to-back singles to open the bottom of the fourth, and had runners on second and third after a groundout to first. After a strikeout, Cardinals first baseman Zak Wasserman delivered a two-out single to right field to drive in two, making the score 4-3. Whiting then doubled down the left field line to score Wasserman from first, tying the score at 4-4.
The Cardinals took a 5-4 lead in the fifth off UA starting pitcher Spencer Turnbull, who did not factor into the decision. After singles to open the inning put runners on the corners, Young delivered a sacrifice fly to left field to plate Nick Ratajczak for the go ahead run. Turnbull walked the next hitter to put runners on first and second to end his day. Justin Kamplain entered for Turnbull and after Booth threw out a base runner trying to steal third, pinch hitter Alex Chittenden grounded out back to Kamplain to end the inning with just the one run.
Louisville added two runs in the bottom of the seventh when Engel hit a solo home run to open the inning and a one-out solo shot by Johnson off Kamplain, made the score 7-4.
Alabama answered with three runs in the top of the eighth inning to even the score at 7-7. With the bases loaded Moore doubled down the right field line to drive in Mikey White and Kenny Roberts. With runners on second and third, Oversteet delivered a sac fly to right field to score Booth and tie the game at 7-7.
Louisville got the first two runners aboard in the eighth to chase Ray Castillo from the game. After Taylor Guilbeau entered, Booth threw behind Gibson at second base to record the first out of the inning. Then, Guilbeau struck out Whiting, and after intentionally walking Engel, Guilbeau got Ratajczak to ground out the end the inning without allowing a run.
After Alabama went down in order in the ninth against Nick Burdi, the Cardinals had runners on the corners with one out off Guilbeau. Mitch Greer was called on to get the Tide out of the jam. Greer struck out Chittenden and then after a walk loaded the bases, Anthony Kidston flied out to right field, sending the game to extra innings for the second time this weekend.
Alabama returns home to host the Memphis Tigers for a two-game, midweek set on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, with first pitch set for 6:05 p.m. CT, from Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Pitching matchups for the two midweek games will be announced later.
Follow the Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team on Facebook at Alabama-Baseball and on Twitter at @AlabamaBSB.
Florida Drops Series to Indiana
Indiana sophomore left-hander Kyle Hart (2-0) carried a shutout into the eighth inning and sophomore Kyle Schwarber went 4-for-5 with two RBI to power the Hoosiers (8-3) to a 7-4 victory over Florida (8-9) to claim the rubber match of the teams’ series on Sunday afternoon at McKethan Stadium.
Junior Dustin DeMuth (3-for-4) and redshirt sophomore Scott Donley (3-for-4, two RBI) each had three hits as part of IU’s 14-hit offensive attack. The Gators battled back with four runs with two down in the eighth and were led at the plate by senior Vickash Ramjit (Miami, Fla.), who went 3-for-4.
“Credit Indiana, they played really well,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “They jumped out to an early lead again. Their pitcher did a nice job; kept the ball down in the strike zone and didn’t walk many. We hit into three double plays and that indicates he kept the ball down. But, credit them [Indiana], they deserved to win the series, they played really well today.”
“I thought Eric [Hanhold] threw the ball well. Sometimes the line doesn’t always say how a guy threw. I liked his demeanor, his aggressiveness, and the ball was coming out of his hand well. They are a good hitting team and we knew that going in. They’re [Indiana] going to give a lot of people trouble this year; I’ve been around this league for six years and I know what a good hitting club looks like.”
Schwarber provided the Hoosiers with a quick lead in the first inning against freshman Eric Hanhold (Palm Harbor, Fla.) (0-1) with a one-out homer over the right-field fence. It was the third round-tripper of the year for Schwarber and marked the third day in a row that Indiana plated a run in the opening frame.
DeMuth began the second with a Texas Leaguer into center field and was sacrificed into scoring position by sophomore Chris Sujka. Sophomore Chad Clark roped a two-out single into left field but DeMuth was gunned down at the plate on a relay from sophomore Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) to sophomore catcher Taylor Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) to keep the score at 1-0.
Indiana extended its margin to 3-0 in the third inning on an RBI triple by sophomore Sam Travis (1-for-2, two runs) and a run-scoring single by Donley. Schwarber had singled with one down and Travis notched his first triple into the left-field corner to score his teammate. Donley followed with a base-knock up the middle to drive in Travis for the three-run cushion. Senior Michael Basil advanced Donley to second with a ground ball and Hanhold retired DeMuth on a grounder to complete the stanza.
Florida put a pair of runners aboard in the third with two down, as senior Cody Dent (Boynton Beach, Fla.) was hit by a pitch and sophomore Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) drew a walk. Hart induced a grounder by freshman Harrison Bader (Bronxville, N.Y.) that forced Dent at third base for the final out.
The Hoosiers added two more runs in the fifth to take a 5-0 lead. Senior Justin Cureton (1-for-4, two runs) led off with a walk, ending the afternoon for Hanhold (4.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R). Freshman Parker Danciu (Delray Beach, Fla.) had Schwarber pop-up to Ramjit for the first out and Cureton swiped second base. After an intentional walk to Travis, Donley roped a double to left field to score Cureton for a 4-0 lead. After Basil was walked intentionally to re-load the bags, DeMuth lofted a sacrifice fly into center field to plate Travis with the fifth run.
Redshirt freshman Aaron Rhodes (Venice, Fla.) took over for Danciu (1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R) with one down in the sixth and plunked Clark. After having Cureton fly out to center field, Rhodes (0.1 IP) was replaced by sophomore Bobby Poyner (Wellington, Fla.). Schwarber greeted the reliever with a single and went to second on the relay throw, with Clark taking third. An intentional walk to Travis filled the bags with two down and Poyner had Donley fly out to center field.
Redshirt sophomore Will Nolden expanded Indiana’s lead to 6-0 with a two-out RBI single up the middle in the seventh off freshman Mike Vinson (Miami, Fla.) that plated DeMuth. Vinson had replaced Poyner (0.1 IP, 1 H) at the outset of the inning and DeMuth had a one-out single before stealing second and going to third on a grounder by sophomore pinch hitter Ricky Alfonso.
A one-out double in the eighth by Cureton, prompted a pitching change, with sophomore Corey Stump (Lakeland, Fla.) replacing Vinson (1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R). Schwarber collected his fourth hit with an RBI double to score Cureton for a 7-0 margin.
In the bottom of the inning, Florida answered with two-out RBI singles by Bader, Shafer and Ramjit to narrow the gap to 7-4. With one down, sophomore Mike Fahrman (Tampa, Fla.) reached on an error in his first career at bat and Turgeon delivered a two-out single for two Gators aboard. Bader sliced a base-hit down the left-field line to score Fahrman and Shafer followed with a single into right field to score Turgeon. Freshman Scott Effross came in for Hart (7.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 0 ER) and uncorked a wild pitch that enabled Bader to score. After Gushue drew a walk, Ramjit stroked an RBI single into center field that plated Shafer for a 7-4 count. Effross had freshman pinch hitter Christian Dicks (Jacksonville, Fla.) pop up to second base to strand the runners.
The Gators will host No. 5 Florida State (15-0) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the first of three regular-season meetings. The Share A Little Sunshine Showdown, Florida vs. Florida State Game is presented by Visit Florida. Share a Little Sunshine is Visit Florida’s campaign to encourage all Floridians to invite their friends and families to Florida to boost tourism and help our state’s economy. The game will be available on GatorVision and can be heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell.