University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Drop Heartbreaker at Auburn
March 30, 2008 | Baseball
Box Score (PDF)??
AUBURN, Ala. ??? The Tennessee baseball team dropped a heartbreaker Sunday as Auburn used a walk-off basehit in the bottom of the ninth inning to hand the Volunteers a 4-3 loss at Samford Stadium-Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park. An outstanding pitching performance by UT sophomore Nick Hernandez fell by the wayside as the Tigers turned two Tennessee errors into a pair of costly unearned runs in the final innings.
Tennessee (16-9, 5-4 SEC) had a shutout brewing into the eighth inning, during which Auburn (18-10, 4-5 SEC) took advantage of a defensive miscue to plate a pair of runs.
The Tigers then used an RBI double by catcher Tony Caldwell to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, setting the stage for Auburn shortstop Matt Hall to belt a walk-off RBI single to left field.
Hernandez turned in one of his best outings of the season, surrendering just two runs (one earned) on seven hits through seven innings with one walk and three strikeouts. However, the sophomore from Miami, Fla., was saddled with his fourth no-decision in five starts this season.
With two outs in the top of the first inning, Vols catcher Yan Gomes was hit by a pitch to give Tennessee its first baserunner of the day. Gomes was driven in two batters later when Jeff Lockwood sent an RBI basehit into right-center to open the game???s scoring.
Tennessee right fielder Josh Liles gave the Big Orange a 2-0 lead with an RBI groundout that plated Jeff Lockwood in the fourth.
Auburn loaded the bases against Hernandez with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, but Hernandez got Tigers designated hitter Kevin Patterson to look at strike three???temporarily preserving the shutout.
Tennessee second baseman Andy Simunic hit a single in the top of the eighth???his third hit of the game???and he scored with two outs later in the inning on a wild pitch by Tigers reliever Scott Shuman. Simunic finished the series with six hits, second only to senior Shawn Griffin???s seven.
Auburn threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth when a UT infield error enabled the Tigers to put a pair of runners in scoring position with no outs. Lockwood???who had already scored a run and collected two hits in the game as Tennessee???s designated hitter???then took the mound to pitch to Tigers pinch hitter David Cunningham.
Cunningham erased UT???s shutout bid with an RBI groundout, and Lockwood then moved to first base as Vols junior Aaron Everett entered out of the bullpen to face Tigers right fielder Mike Bianucci.
Bianucci delivered another RBI groundout to help Auburn pull within one run, 3-2. But Everett then came through with a clutch strikeout against Tigers first baseman Hunter Morris.
The drama continued into the bottom of the ninth, when Auburn???s Joseph Sanders led off by reaching on another error in the Tennessee infield. Lockwood then came back to the mound???marking the third game this season in which he???s made multiple mound appearances???and recorded a strikeout before Brian Fletcher singled to put men on first and second with one out.
That set the stage for Caldwell???s game-tying double. Lockwood took the loss to fall to 1-1 on the year.
Auburn clinched the series with Sunday???s win as both teams pounded out double-digit hits for the third time on the weekend. After combining for 56 hits in the first two games of the series, the teams combined for 20 hits Sunday (10 apiece). Tennessee averaged 12.7 hits per game in the series but made three errors in each contest.
The Vols return to action Tuesday when they travel to Cookeville, Tenn., to take on Tennessee Tech (19-7-1, 4-2 OVC) at 6 p.m. CT. Tennessee then hosts Charlotte Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
