Auburn Slams Past Charleston Southern, 18-4
Auburn blasts six home runs in the game to up season total to 46
March 18, 2009
Final Stats
AUBURN, Ala. - Ben Jones' eighth-inning, two-out solo home run to center capped a spectacular day at the plate for Auburn as the Tigers blasted six home runs in an 18-4 rout of Charleston Southern on Wednesday afternoon at Plainsman Park. Leadoff hitter Trent Mummey finished the game 3-for-5 with a double, a home run to lead off the game and an eighth-inning grand slam to drive in six runs and score four more as Auburn pushed its record to 15-5 and its home winning streak to 10.
Freshman Dan Gamache, making his first career start, smoked a 2-2 pitch out to right in his first at bat of the game for a second-inning solo home run and finished the game a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, a walk, a sacrifice bunt, two runs scored and two RBI.
"It was my first start so I was pretty excited in the locker room getting ready. I was trying to do whatever I could to get on base every time I got up and I was just trying to lock in," Gamache said.
Joining Jones (3-for-6, 2B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI), Mummey and Gamache with home run trots in the afternoon contest was Wes Gilmer (1-for-2, BB, HR 3 R) and Hunter Morris (1-for-4, 2 BB, HR). Gilmer, who was inserted into the game as a pinch runner for Joseph Sanders in the third with Auburn already ahead 9-0, drove the first pitch he saw in the fifth deep to center for his first career home run while Morris took the slow jog around the bases with one on and two down in the seventh for his fourth home run of the season.
"We put our hitting shoes on today. We got some balls up in the zone and we drove some balls today," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said.
Mummey has scored a national-best 37 runs in 20 games this season and is riding a 19-game hitting streak, having scored at least one run in all but two games this season. His 10 home runs this season leads Auburn and trails just Alabama's Kent Matthes' 13 in that national stats, and four times this season he has led off a game with a homer.
"We saw a lot of pitches to drive and we drove them," Mummey said. "(Coach Heath) sat down with me before the game and we watched some video of last night's swings and we worked out a couple of kinks."
Taylor Thompson (1-1) earned his first win of the season in his first start of 2009, tossing five complete innings and allowing just one run on three hits while striking out a season-high six. Only twice did he allow a Charleston Southern (8-10) runner to get into scoring position and he was able to limit the damage to just the one fourth-inning run to pick up his first win since throwing a complete game at Ole Miss on May 10, 2008.
"It felt good to finally get out there and start a game," Thompson said. "The last few games I have come in in relief and that's a little bit different because it takes me a little longer to warm up. It was good to have a lot of runs behind me. The first three innings felt great and I just went out there and relaxed and pitched my game."
"I was real encouraged by Taylor today. We have been trying to get him in there and this was a great opportunity for him and he stepped up," Pawlowski said. "He has had to pitch in some tight situations but I thought it was good for him to go out there and create his own innings. In order to do what we want to do, he is going to play a major role in that."
Auburn's six home runs upped its season total to 46, which is second nationally behind New Mexico State's 50, and ranks tied for 16th in school history with the 2005 team. Mummey's grand slam was the first Auburn home run of '09 with the sacks full as Auburn has hit 28 solo home runs, 11 two-run home runs and six three-run homers.
The six-homer game was the fifth in school history and the first since former Auburn coach Hal Baird's first team hit six in a 23-11 win at Georgia on April 2, 1985.
Auburn went up 2-0 in the first on Mummey's drive to right and Tony Caldwell's RBI single to right that scored Jones.
In the blink of an eye it was 5-0 Auburn in the second as Gamache hit his two-run shot and Mummey doubled and scored on a pair of wild pitches, knocking Charleston Southern starter Eric McGough (0-2) out of the contest after just 1 1/3 innings.
A five-run fifth did in Charleston Southern's first man out of the pen in Stew Brase as Caldwell led off with a double and Casey McElroy was hit by a pitch with none out. Gamache's sac bunt moved the runners up before Justin Hargett drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases. A walk by Mummey scored the first run and when Sanders was hit by a Brase pitch it was up to a 7-0 Auburn lead. Jones' double to left-center scored Hargett and Mummey and then a Morris groundout scored Gilmer after he entered for Sanders at third during a Charleston Southern pitching change to put Auburn comfortably ahead at 10-0 after three complete.
Charleston Southern's Corey Deighan kept Auburn off the board in the fourth before allowing Gilmer's homer in the fifth. After a scoreless sixth, Auburn reapplied its offensive will, scoring two in the seventh on Morris' blast.
The final frame at the plate proved to be another offensive outburst for Auburn as Chezz McCann singled, Gamache doubled and Hargett walked to set up Mummey's first career grand slam before Jones' final blow capped the Auburn scoring at a season-high 18 runs, which is the most runs scored by an Auburn team since May 17, 2007 in an 18-7 win at Kentucky.
Auburn finished the afternoon with 15 hits and eight walks and tallied 26 hits and 21 in the two-game series with Charleston Southern, collecting 13 extra-base hits along the way.
Auburn's pitching staff finished the two-game series with 32 strikeouts while walking just four in 22 innings of work.
Auburn returns to Southeastern Conference play this weekend when it plays host to No. 15 Arkansas. Game times are 6pm CT on Friday, 3pm on Saturday and 1pm on Sunday.
Auburn 18, Charleston Southern 4 (Mar 18, 2009 at Auburn, Ala.)
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Charleston Southern. 000 100 030 - 4 10 0 (8-10)
Auburn.............. 235 010 25X - 18 15 0 (15-5)
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Win-Taylor Thompson(1-1) Loss-McGOUGH, Eric(0-2) T-2:34 A-1878
HR AU - Trent Mummey 2 (10); Wes Gilmer (1); Ben Jones (4); Hunter Morris (4); Dan Gamache (1).
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