Doubledays Drop Series Opener in State College
After an early morning bus trip to State College, PA, the Doubledays didn't seem to mind an extra hour of rest. Auburn pounced for an early lead against the Spikes as soon as the ominous black clouds that prompted a weather delay at Lubrano Park gave way. But that lead,
After an early morning bus trip to State College, PA, the Doubledays didn't seem to mind an extra hour of rest. Auburn pounced for an early lead against the Spikes as soon as the ominous black clouds that prompted a weather delay at Lubrano Park gave way. But that lead, just like the delay, was short lived.
The Doubledays (21-38) fell to the Spikes (31-30), 6-5, as Auburn failed to halt State College's comeback bid in the late innings.
The Doubledays quickly found themselves with a 3-0 lead after three innings after
Following two scoreless innings from starter Todd Peterson, the Doubledays led off the third inning with Albert Carrillo on second with some help from a passed ball. Mendez followed with a walk,and Carrillo came in to score on a Sanchez single to left field. A groundout from Arruda advanced both runners into scoring position with just one out, but Spikes pitcher Jeremy Randolph was able to escape the inning with minimal damage.
The inability to tack on those insurance runs came back to haunt Auburn, as State College closed the gap with a two-spot in the home half and took the lead in the fourth inning. It was Peterson's least effective - and shortest - outing of the season, as the LSU product went only four innings while allowing as many runs (though one was unearned).
Two walks and a forceout at second put runners at the corners for the Spikes in the third, with a hit-by-pitch juicing the bags for
Peterson struck out
Onix Vega made up for his passed ball with an RBI single to tie the game the following half inning, and the Doubledays retook the lead in the sixth on a sacrifice fly that allowed Andrew Pratt to cross the plate. But, just like the third inning, Auburn pitching was unable to secure a crucial shutdown inning.
The Doubledays start the first game of a doubleheader against the Spikes on Sunday at 3:05PM.