AU BASEBALL: Mummey lifts Tigers to top spot in SEC West
Rightfielder Justin Fradejas led off No. 18 Auburn’s series finale against Tennessee with an infield single, and center fielder Trent Mummey squared to bunt him over on a 1-0 count.
Then he pulled the bat back, swung, and lined a two-run home run to right field.
“When you go to slash and hit a home run, you know things are going good for you,” Mummey said. “That was pretty interesting.”
Things are going a little better than “good” for Mummey right now.
After a 3-for-4, five-RBI performance in the Tigers’ 9-2 win over the Volunteers on Sunday in front of 2,781 fans at Plainsman Park — one in which he hit two, two-run shots — the junior from Pinson finished the series going 7-for-14 with four home runs and 12 RBI.
He went 6-for-10 with all four home runs and all 12 RBI in the series’ final two games.
After missing the season’s first 28 games with a high ankle sprain, Mummey is hitting .363 with 13 home runs and 38 RBI in 101 at-bats this year.
And he made a running, full-extension grab in center to rob Tennessee catcher Blake Forsythe of sure extra bases in the eighth Sunday.
“I think he had a pretty good game today,” Auburn coach John Pawlowski said with a knowing smirk.
“That always helps when somebody does something like that. He was outstanding.”
Of course, Mummey wasn’t alone in clinching the fourth straight series win for the Tigers (35-17, 17-10 SEC), the one that moved them into a one-game lead in the West after Arkansas and Ole Miss both lost Sunday.
Fradejas knocked a sacrifice fly to right after the Tigers loaded the bases off Tennessee (29-23, 12-15) in the second, and Mummey singled in Dan Gamache to give them a 4-0 lead.
Fradejas again hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth — merely a precursor to Mummey’s second two-run shot on the game — as Auburn answered the
Volunteers’ first run of the game with three of its own to extend the lead to 7-1.
When Tennessee plated another in the fifth, the Tigers countered with a Hunter Morris solo shot — breaking Auburn’s single-season record with its 104th home run on the season — and Casey McElroy doubled in another run.
“I think our offense this year, we can do some different things up and down the lineup,” Pawlowski said. “I just think we can find ways to produce runs a lot better this year. And I think the guys understand with the maturity we have on this club.”
Tennessee’s bats were getting to Grant Dayton as well, with P.J. Polk, Cody Hawn and Matt Duffy each going 2-for-4.
But Dayton, who moved to 7-2 with the win, was always able to get a ground ball when he needed it, as the Tigers rolled into two double plays.
Even if it wasn’t always intentional.
“I did cut some fastballs on accident, and that’s when they were hitting the ground balls,” Dayton said. “It was on accident, but it worked out. So I’m happy with the result.”
Dayton gave up two runs and scattered nine hits, striking out four and walking none over 6 2/3 innings, and Opelika native Zach Blatt pitched a scoreless 2 1/3 innings in relief to shut the door on Tennessee.
Auburn heads into its final regular season series at Ole Miss with a spot in the SEC Tournament in hand and a real shot at winning its first West title since 1995.
The Rebels, who sit a game behind the Tigers in the West after losing 6-3 to Alabama on Sunday, welcome Auburn in for a three-game series starting Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
“We haven’t been in this position in a long time,” Dayton said. “We don’t know what this feels like. There’s a new feeling to it, so we’re just going to try and take it one game at a time going into Ole Miss.”
“Try to control the destiny.”
dmorrison@oanow.com | 737-2568
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