By WRBL Staff
AU Sports Information
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ryan Flaherty’s two two-run home runs for Vanderbilt trumped Auburn’s three solo home runs, two off the bat of Mike Bianucci, as Auburn fell at No. 11 Vanderbilt, 9-5, on Sunday afternoon in the rubber game of the series. The loss drops Auburn’s record to 23-18, 7-11 SEC while Vanderbilt is now 28-11, 10-7 SEC.AU Sports Information
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Stumble It!Auburn had its chances late in the game, loading the bases in both the seventh and eighth innings but came up empty in both instances.
“We had our opportunities late,” Auburn Head Coach Tom Slater said. “The law of averages says we have to get a hit with the bases loaded, but we didn’t today.”
Nick Christiani (5-1) earned the win for Vanderbilt, allowingfour runs over five innings and Russell Brewer picked his fourth save of the year, throwing the final 1.2 innings, getting Vanderbilt out of the eighth-inning bases-loaded jam before wrapping it up in the ninth.
Auburn scored a run without a base hit in the first inning as Trent Mummey walked, stole second and third and came home on Bianucci’s sacrifice fly to center. The two steals gave Mummey 15 on the year and Auburn 63.
Vanderbilt answered to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first on Flaherty’s ninth home run of the year, a two-run shot to left-center and then added to it in the bottom of the second on Steven Liddle’s run-scoring single to make it 3-1.
Vanderbilt knocked Auburn starter Bradley Hendrix (1-1) out of the game with one out in the third as Dominic de la Osa’s RBI single made it 4-1 Vanderbilt. In 2.1 innings, Hendrix was tagged for four runs on five hits, walking one and striking out two.
Bianucci and Hunter Morris hit back-to-back home runs, with Bianucci’s blast hitting the basketball arena beyond the wall in left while Morris went into the temporary stands in right to make it 6-4 and knock Christiani out of the game. Vanderbilt, however, was able to get those two runs back in the bottom half of the sixth and added another as Alex Feinberg’s one-out single through a drawn-in infield with runners on second and third scored two to make it 8-4 and knock Taylor Thompson out of the game for Auburn.
Bianucci, who finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBI, answered for Auburn in the top of the seventh with his second home run of the day, a solo blast to right-center, giving him three multi-home run games in his career and his first since April 20, 2007 against Alabama.
“Mike looked the Mike of old. He puts a lot of pressure on himself and being one of the lone returning older guys he gets a lot of pressure from outside sources. He needs to just relax and play, which is what he did today,” Slater said.
Auburn returns home for a single game with Samford on Tuesday, April 22 at 6pm CT.
