Auburn looks to regroup after second loss to Arizona State
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Contributed TEMPE, Ariz. - Auburn scored early off of Arizona State, holding a 3-0 lead after the top of the first and a 6-4 lead after the top of the second but neither lead was safe as No. 2 Arizona State scored 16 runs on 15 hits to claim a 16-7 series-clinching win over Auburn on Saturday night at Packard Stadium. "(Arizona State) beat us in every phase of the game today. We were not very good," Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski said. "It’s just one of those tough games. I told the guys this is what playing teams in the Southeastern Conference and top teams in the country is all about. We have to come back tomorrow and regroup. We were in the game early and then they just kept pounding away and things didn’t click for us today." Auburn (9-4) scored three runs on four hits and a walk in the top of the first, quickly jumping on ASU starter Merrill Kelly, only to have Arizona State respond with four runs on three hits, all doubles, and two walks in the bottom half to take a 4-3 off of Auburn starter Cole Nelson after the first. Auburn was unfazed by the lead change, scoring three more off of a Hunter Morris laser of a three-run home run to right, his third in the last four games and the 26th of his career to take a 6-4 lead. After being held off the board in the second, Arizona State (14-0) tied it at 6-6 in the third, knocking Nelson from the game after 2 1/3 innings, and then piled on the runs from there, scoring six runs off of Bradley Hendrix (1-1) in his 3 1/3 inning outing, touching the right hander for six hits, and four runs on Justin Bryant in the eighth. |
