Late Run Lifts Baseball Over Auburn, 5-4 :: Luke Peavy drove in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning

April 4, 2006

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Luke Peavy drove in Bear Burnett to break a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Samford held on in the ninth for a 5-4 win over Auburn Tuesday night at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. The game marked the first-annual Samford vs. Auburn Classic presented by First American Bank.

For Samford (15-15) at the plate, Peavy went 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Parker Gargis went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Michael Marseco also went 2-for-4 for the Bulldogs. Gargis was also the winning pitcher for Samford, tossing 2.0 innings in relief, giving up just two hits and allowing no runs. Joseph Edens pitched the ninth inning for Samford to pick up his fourth save of the season.

Auburn (14-18) was led at the plate by Mike Bianucci, going 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Tyler Johnstone went 3-for-5 at the plate for the Tigers. Peter Wiggins took the loss on the mound, pitching 1.0 inning, giving up a run on two hits.

Samford jumped on top first with two runs in the first inning. After Marseco led the inning off with a triple, John Morgan doubled to drive in Marseco for the game's first run. Morgan later scored when Gargis reached on an Auburn error for a 2-0 Samford lead.

Auburn came back with two runs in the third inning to tie the score at 2-2. Bianucci hit a home run to left field with Johnstone on base to tie the score.

Samford plated two more runs in the bottom of the third to take a 4-2 lead. Gargis singled to drive in Marseco for a 3-2 Samford lead. Peavy then singled to drive in Gargis for a two-run Bulldog lead.

Auburn tied the game with two runs in the fifth inning. Josh Donaldson singled to drive in Bianucci to make the score 4-3. Luke Greinke then drove in Andy Bennett with a sacrifice bunt to tie the score at 4-4.

Samford will return to action this weekend when the Bulldogs play host to conference foe Austin Peay in a three-game OVC series at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1:00 p.m., and a single game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. All three games can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.al.com/wvsu or www.samfordsports.com.